Louisella is a genus of worm known from the Middle CambrianBurgess Shale. It was originally described by Charles Walcott in 1911 as a holothurian echinoderm,[1] and represents a senior synonym of Miskoia, which was originally described as an annelid.[2] 48 specimens of Louisella are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community.[3] It has been stated to have palaeoscolecid-like sclerites,[4] though this is not in fact the case.[5]
It's also been interpreted as an annelid [6] and a sipunculan,[7] (neither on particularly compelling grounds) and a pripaulid,[8] but it is more conservatively considered to represent an ecdysozoan worm;[5] deep ecdysozoan relationships are not yet well resolved, making a more precise affiliation challenging.
References
^Durham, J. W. (1974). "Systematic Position of Eldonia ludwigi Walcott". Journal of Paleontology. 48 (4): 750–755. JSTOR1303225.
^ abSmith, M.R. 2015: A palaeoscolecid worm from the Burgess Shale. Palaeontology 58, 973–979. doi:10.1111/pala.12210
^Madsen, F.J. 1957: On Walcott’s Supposed Cambrian Holothurians. Journal of Paleontology 31, 281–282.
^Howell, B.F. 1962: Worms. In Moore, R. C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology W (Miscellanea), W144–W177. Geological Society of America, New York.
^Conway Morris, S. 1977: Fossil priapulid worms. Special Papers in Palaeontology 20, 1–95.
