Eiffelia

Eiffelia Temporal range: Early Cambrian–Burgess Shale PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Fossil of E. globosa
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Porifera
Informal group:	†"Heteractinida"
Family:	†Eiffeliidae
Genus:	†Eiffelia Walcott, 1920
Type species
†Eiffelia globosa Walcott, 1920
Species
†Eiffelia araniformis (Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981)[2] †Eiffelia globosa Walcott, 1920
Synonyms[3]
Lenastella Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981 Actinoites Duan, 1984 Niphadus Duan, 1984

Eiffelia is an extinct genus of sponges known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale as well as several Early Cambrian small shelly fossil deposits. It is named after Eiffel Peak, which was itself named after the Eiffel Tower. It was first described in 1920 by Charles Doolittle Walcott.[4] It belongs in the Hexactinellid stem group.[5] 60 specimens of Eiffelia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.11% of the community.[6]

Eiffelia generally have star-shaped six-rayed spicules, with rays diverging at 60°, occasionally with a seventh ray perpendicular to the other six.

Species

Two species are known:

• †Eiffelia globosa Walcott, 1920: This species is known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. In life, it had a globe-like shape and was up to 6 cm in diameter.
• †Eiffelia araniformis (Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981): This species is known from several Early Cambrian small shelly fossil deposits in the Siberian Platform, Mongolia, China, Europe, and Australia. It was originally described in the genus Lenastella. It was moved to Eiffelia by Bengtson et al. (1990).

  Synonyms:[7]

• Lenastella araniformis Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
• Lenastella aculeata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
• Lenastella mucronata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
• Lenastella umbonata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
• Actinoites universalis Duan, 1984
• Actinoites simplex Duan, 1984
• Niphadus xihaopingensis Duan, 1984
• Niphadus complanatus Duan, 1984

References

1. Botting, J. (2007). "'Cambrian' demosponges in the Ordovician of Morocco: Insights into the early evolutionary history of sponges". Geobios. 40 (6): 737–748. Bibcode:2007Geobi..40..737B. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2007.02.006.
2. Skovsted, C. B. (2006). "Small Shelly Fauna from the Upper Lower Cambrian Bastion and Ella Island Formations, North-East Greenland". Journal of Paleontology. 80 (6): 1087–1112. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[1087:SSFFTU]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 130024613.
3. Wrona, R. (2004). "Cambrian microfossils from glacial erratics of King George Island, Antarctica" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 49 (1): 13–56.
4. Walcott, C. D. (1920). "Cambrian geology and paleontology IV:6—Middle Cambrian Spongiae". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 67: 261–364.
5. Botting, J. P.; Butterfield, N. J.; Valentine, J. W. (2005). "Reconstructing early sponge relationships by using the Burgess Shale fossil Eiffelia globosa, Walcott". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (5): 1554–1559. doi:10.1073/pnas.0405867102. JSTOR 3374469. PMC 547825. PMID 15665105.
6. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. Bibcode:2006Palai..21..451C. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022. S2CID 53646959.
7. Elicki, O. (2011). "First skeletal microfauna from the Cambrian Series 3 of the Jordan Rift Valley (Middle East)" (PDF). Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists. 42: 153–173.

External links

• "Eiffelia globosa". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2023-01-21.