Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Skeemella.

Skeemella is a Cambrian animal that is found in Utah and is known from one specimen. The specimen has two halves: a posterior half and an anterior half. Although some scientists in China believe Skeemella is an arthropod, some American scientists believe it is a Vetulicolian.

Anterior half of Skeemella.
[Source: University of Kansas Division of Invertebrate Paleontology]

Skeemella had a long, skinny tail with two flukes that formed a paddle at the end of the tail. This picture shows Skeemella, the large elongate animal, and a group of the trilobite Peronopsis. The Peronopsis are probably searching for carcasses of Elrathia kingii, because they were some of the most common food sources that a scavenger like Peronopsis would be able to eat.

I believe that Skeemella may have been nocturnal, because its long tail would drag behind and in the day could be seen and grabbed by a predator. But in the nighttime, the big predators were either sluggish, inactive, or could not see well in the darkness, so Skeemella could be safe. But that's just my hypothesis.

My interpretation of Skeemella with a group of Paronopsis.

Skeemella had a tough carapace shaped like a fingernail, a beak-shaped mouth, no eyes, and two lobe-like extensions on the glob-like anterior part of the body.

Skeemella swimming slowly above the Cambrian sea floor in search of detritus or plankton.



References:

http://kumip.ku.edu/cambrianlife/Utah-Vetulicolians.html

http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Fossil_Sites/Chengjiang/Vetulicolia-Fossils.htm

2 comments:

  1. What a weird animal! And I like your drawings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Art,

    Nice work on the art for your blog! I hope that you are able to make your blog work for some of your school homework assignments.

    ReplyDelete