Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 8, 2026

Lecythioscopa

Lecythioscopa is a genus of probable archaeopriapulid known from two specimens from the Walcott Quarry from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.

Last revised
Aug 8, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
183 w
Citations
6
Source
Lecythioscopa
Temporal range: Burgess Shale
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Stem group: Priapulida (?)
Class: Archaeopriapulida
Genus: Lecythioscopa
Conway Morris, 19771
Species
  • L. simplex (Walcott, 1931) Conway Morris 1977
Synonyms
  • Canadia simplex Walcott 1931

Lecythioscopa is a genus of probable archaeopriapulid known from two specimens from the Walcott Quarry from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.1

Morphology

The specimens of Lectythioscopa are both missing their posterior portions, leaving a head, comparable to the proboscis of other priapulids, and long trunk, which is curved in both specimens. The animal was probably a burrower due to its external radial symmetry.1

History

The species was originally placed as Canadia simplex by Charles Walcott in a 1931 publication based on a single specimen.2 Simon Conway Morris later identified what was previously considered a specimen of Canadia dubia as sharing similar features, placing them both under the name of Lecythioscopa simplex.31

References

References

  1. Conway Morris, S (1977). "Fossil priapulid worms". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 20.
  2. Walcott, C.D. (1931). "Addenda to descriptions of Burgess shale fossils". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 85: 1–42. doi:10.1086/623925.
  3. Walcott, C.D. (1911). "Middle Cambrian Annelids". Cambrian Geology and Paleontology. 2: 109–142.