The tommotiid Camenella reticulosa is redescribed based on new collections of well preserved sclerites from the Arrowie Basin (Flinders Ranges), South Australia, revealing new information concerning morphology and micro- structure. The acutely pyramidal mitral sclerite is described for the first time and the sellate sclerite is shown to be coiled through up to 1.5 whorls. Based on Camenella, a model is proposed by which tommotiid sclerites are composed of alternating dense phosphatic, and presumably originally organic-rich, laminae. Camenella is morphologically most similar to Lapworthella, Kennardia, and Dailyatia, and these taxa are interpreted to represent a monophyletic clade, here termed the camenellans, within the Tommotiida. Potential reconstructions of the scleritome of Camenella are discussed and although a tubular scleritome construction was recently demonstrated for the tommotiids Eccentrotheca and Paterimitra, a bilaterally symmetrical scleritome model with the sclerites arranged symmetrically on the dorsal surface of a vagrant animal can not be ruled out.
CITATION STYLE
Skovsted, C. B., Balthasar, U., Brock, G. A., & Paterson, J. R. (2009). The tommotiid Camenella reticulosa from the early Cambrian of South Australia: Morphology, scleritome reconstruction, and phylogeny. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 54(3), 525–540. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2008.0082
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