Phlogites Explained

Phlogites, a senior synonym of Cheungkongella ancestralis,^[1] (sometimes misspelt Cheungkungella)^[2] is a cambroernid, and thus a member of the deuterostome total group. It is known from the Lower Cambrian Haikou Chengjiang deposits of China, and was initially compared to the tunicates.^[3] It was originally described as a tunicate, though, this identification has been questioned, especially with the discovery of another Chengjiang tunicate, Shankouclava. It has most recently been interpreted as a cambroernid related to Eldonia, Rotadiscus and Herpetogaster.^{[4] [5]}

Notes and References

1. The Lower Cambrian Phlogites Luo & Hu Re-Considered. Hou, Xian-Guang. Bergström, Jan. Ma, Xiao-Ya. Jie, Z. 2006. GFF. 128. 47–51.
2. Proc Biol Sci . 10.1098/rspb.2009.0646. 2842668 . The earliest history of the deuterostomes: the importance of the Chengjiang Fossil-Lagerstätte.
3. 10.1038/35078069. Shu . X. L. . Chen . D. G. . 11373678 . Han . X. -L. . Zhang . X. -L. . An Early Cambrian tunicate from China. Nature . 411 . 472–473 . 24 May 2001 . 6836.
4. Caron . J. . Conway Morris . S. . Shu . D. . Soares . D. . 2010 . Soares . Daphne . Tentaculate fossils from the Cambrian of Canada (British Columbia) and China (Yunnan) interpreted as primitive deuterostomes . PLOS ONE . 5 . 3 . e9586 . 2010PLoSO...5.9586C . 10.1371/journal.pone.0009586 . 2833208 . 20221405 . free.
5. Li . Yujing . Dunn . Frances S. . Murdock . Duncan J.E. . Guo . Jin . Rahman . Imran A. . Cong . Peiyun . Cambrian stem-group ambulacrarians and the nature of the ancestral deuterostome . Current Biology . May 10, 2023 . 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.048 . 37167976 . 258592223 . 11 May 2023. free .