From Newsgroup: sci.bio.paleontology

Just in. The authors of a new paper suggest that the diminutive, extinct
early Cambrian conical fossils Salterella and Volborthella--previously assigned to the Phylum Agmata by Ellis Yochelson in 1977--have Cnidarian affinities.

See the paper "A Cnidarian Affinity for Salterella and Volborthella: Implications for the Evolution of Shells" over at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/cnidarian-affinity-for-salterella-and-volborthella-implications-for-the-evolution-of-shells/06EC06239D6E9C7A5173C382FDD5BC30
. This is the full paper. Not just an abstract.

An aside here: I've found loads of Salterella in the lower Cambrian
Harkless Formation in vicinity of where the authors collected their
specimens for the published study--in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Salterella and Volborthella are fascinating fossils, indeed. I'm much
happy that more formal paleontological attention is finally being paid
to them.

One more thing: The authors remark that the Salteralla they recovered
from localities in Nevada's lower Cambrian Harkless Formation are
curved, whereas all other Salterella studied (from Virginia and the
Yukon, for example) showed shells of non-curved (AKA, straight)
morphological construction.

Here's the thing. I don't recollect finding any curved Salterella shells
from the Harkless Formation localities I examined in the vicinity of
where the authors collected their Salterella specimens; they were all straight. But I did find several curved conical shells that I initially assumed belonged to Salterella at a specific site several miles distant
from where the authors collected their curved Salterella material. Later
on down the line, I got hold of a paper that described such curved
conical shells from Nevada's Harkless Formation as Lidaconus--not
Salterella. Bottom line: I'd been led to believe that Salterella shells
were straight, while similar curved conical critters from the Harkless Formation were Lidaconus.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: sci.bio.paleontology

On 10/16/25 2:32 PM, Inyo wrote:

Just in. The authors of a new paper suggest that the diminutive, extinct early Cambrian conical fossils Salterella and Volborthella--previously assigned to the Phylum Agmata by Ellis Yochelson in 1977--have Cnidarian affinities.

See the paper "A Cnidarian Affinity for Salterella and Volborthella: Implications for the Evolution of Shells" over at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/cnidarian-affinity-for-salterella-and-volborthella-implications-for-the-evolution-of-shells/06EC06239D6E9C7A5173C382FDD5BC30 . This is the full paper. Not just an abstract.

An aside here: I've found loads of Salterella in the lower Cambrian
Harkless Formation in vicinity of where the authors collected their specimens for the published study--in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Salterella and Volborthella are fascinating fossils, indeed. I'm much
happy that more formal paleontological attention is finally being paid
to them.

Question: is this Cambrian 1, 2, or 3?

One more thing: The authors remark that the Salteralla they recovered
from localities in Nevada's lower Cambrian Harkless Formation are
curved, whereas all other Salterella studied (from Virginia and the
Yukon, for example) showed shells of non-curved (AKA, straight) morphological construction.

Here's the thing. I don't recollect finding any curved Salterella shells from the Harkless Formation localities I examined in the vicinity of
where the authors collected their Salterella specimens; they were all straight. But I did find several curved conical shells that I initially assumed belonged to Salterella at a specific site several miles distant
from where the authors collected their curved Salterella material. Later
on down the line, I got hold of a paper that described such curved
conical shells from Nevada's Harkless Formation as Lidaconus--not Salterella. Bottom line: I'd been led to believe that Salterella shells
were straight, while similar curved conical critters from the Harkless Formation were Lidaconus.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2