An early Cambrian polyp reveals a potential anemone-like ancestor for medusozoan cnidarians

Yang Zhao; Luke A. Parry; Jakob Vinther; Frances S. Dunn; Yu Jing Li; Fan Wei; Xian Guang Hou; Pei Yun Cong

doi:10.1111/pala.12637

An early Cambrian polyp reveals a potential anemone-like ancestor for medusozoan cnidarians

Yang Zhao
, Luke A. Parry^*
, Jakob Vinther
, Frances S. Dunn
, Yu Jing Li
, Fan Wei
, Xian Guang Hou
, Pei Yun Cong^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cnidarians form a disparate phylum of animals and their diploblastic body plan represents a key step in animal evolution. Cnidarians are split into two main classes; anthozoans (sea anemones, corals) are benthic polyps, while medusozoans (hydroids, jellyfishes) generally have alternating life cycle stages of polyps and medusae. A sessile polyp is present in both groups and is widely regarded as the ancestral form of their last common ancestor. However, the nature and anatomy of the ancestral polyp, particularly of medusozoans, is controversial, owing to the divergent body plans of the extant lineages and the scarcity of medusozoan soft tissues in the fossil record. Here, we redescribe Conicula striata Luo & Hu from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, south China, which has previously been interpreted as a polyp, lophophorate or deuterostome. Through re-examination of the holotype and 51 exceptionally preserved specimens, we show that C. striata possessed features of both anthozoans and medusozoan polyps. A conical, annulated organic skeleton (periderm) fully encasing a polyp is found in fossil and living medusozoans, while a tubular pharynx extending from the mouth into a gut partitioned by c. 28 mesenteries, resembling the actinopharynx of anthozoans. Our phylogenetic analyses recover C. striata as a stem-group medusozoan, implying that the wealth of medusozoan diversity derived, ultimately, from an anemone-like ancestor.

Original language	English
Article number	e12637
Journal	Palaeontology
Volume	66
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12637
Publication status	Published - 9 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful for thoughtful comments from Heyo Van Iten, Xikun Song and one anonymous referee and for technical comments from Sally Thomas, all of which greatly improved the quality of this paper. We thank Qiang Ou (China University of Geosciences, Beijing), Jian Han (Northwest University, Xi'an) and Shixue Hu (Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey) for their insightful comments and suggestions, Karen E. Sanamyan (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute) for sharing images of extant sea anemones for Figure 4D and K, Mengying Yin for creating the 3D model in Figure 5B, and Shangnan Zhang for her help with SEM analyses. LAP thanks Heyo Van Iten for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072019 and 42062001), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (193128 and 213111). YZ is supported by grants from China Scholarship Council (201907030012) and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2022ZB457). LAP is supported by an early career fellowship from St Edmund Hall. FSD is supported by fellowships from Merton College and 1851.

Funding Information:
We are grateful for thoughtful comments from Heyo Van Iten, Xikun Song and one anonymous referee and for technical comments from Sally Thomas, all of which greatly improved the quality of this paper. We thank Qiang Ou (China University of Geosciences, Beijing), Jian Han (Northwest University, Xi'an) and Shixue Hu (Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey) for their insightful comments and suggestions, Karen E. Sanamyan (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute) for sharing images of extant sea anemones for Figure 4D and K , Mengying Yin for creating the 3D model in Figure 5B , and Shangnan Zhang for her help with SEM analyses. LAP thanks Heyo Van Iten for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072019 and 42062001), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (193128 and 213111). YZ is supported by grants from China Scholarship Council (201907030012) and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2022ZB457). LAP is supported by an early career fellowship from St Edmund Hall. FSD is supported by fellowships from Merton College and 1851.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Palaeontological Association.

Keywords

Chengjiang biota
Cnidaria
early Cambrian
evolution
medusozoan polyp

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10.1111/pala.12637

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title = "An early Cambrian polyp reveals a potential anemone-like ancestor for medusozoan cnidarians",

abstract = "Cnidarians form a disparate phylum of animals and their diploblastic body plan represents a key step in animal evolution. Cnidarians are split into two main classes; anthozoans (sea anemones, corals) are benthic polyps, while medusozoans (hydroids, jellyfishes) generally have alternating life cycle stages of polyps and medusae. A sessile polyp is present in both groups and is widely regarded as the ancestral form of their last common ancestor. However, the nature and anatomy of the ancestral polyp, particularly of medusozoans, is controversial, owing to the divergent body plans of the extant lineages and the scarcity of medusozoan soft tissues in the fossil record. Here, we redescribe Conicula striata Luo \& Hu from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, south China, which has previously been interpreted as a polyp, lophophorate or deuterostome. Through re-examination of the holotype and 51 exceptionally preserved specimens, we show that C. striata possessed features of both anthozoans and medusozoan polyps. A conical, annulated organic skeleton (periderm) fully encasing a polyp is found in fossil and living medusozoans, while a tubular pharynx extending from the mouth into a gut partitioned by c. 28 mesenteries, resembling the actinopharynx of anthozoans. Our phylogenetic analyses recover C. striata as a stem-group medusozoan, implying that the wealth of medusozoan diversity derived, ultimately, from an anemone-like ancestor.",

keywords = "Chengjiang biota, Cnidaria, early Cambrian, evolution, medusozoan polyp",

author = "Yang Zhao and Parry, \{Luke A.\} and Jakob Vinther and Dunn, \{Frances S.\} and Li, \{Yu Jing\} and Fan Wei and Hou, \{Xian Guang\} and Cong, \{Pei Yun\}",

note = "Funding Information: We are grateful for thoughtful comments from Heyo Van Iten, Xikun Song and one anonymous referee and for technical comments from Sally Thomas, all of which greatly improved the quality of this paper. We thank Qiang Ou (China University of Geosciences, Beijing), Jian Han (Northwest University, Xi'an) and Shixue Hu (Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey) for their insightful comments and suggestions, Karen E. Sanamyan (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute) for sharing images of extant sea anemones for Figure 4D and K, Mengying Yin for creating the 3D model in Figure 5B, and Shangnan Zhang for her help with SEM analyses. LAP thanks Heyo Van Iten for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072019 and 42062001), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (193128 and 213111). YZ is supported by grants from China Scholarship Council (201907030012) and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2022ZB457). LAP is supported by an early career fellowship from St Edmund Hall. FSD is supported by fellowships from Merton College and 1851. Funding Information: We are grateful for thoughtful comments from Heyo Van Iten, Xikun Song and one anonymous referee and for technical comments from Sally Thomas, all of which greatly improved the quality of this paper. We thank Qiang Ou (China University of Geosciences, Beijing), Jian Han (Northwest University, Xi'an) and Shixue Hu (Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey) for their insightful comments and suggestions, Karen E. Sanamyan (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute) for sharing images of extant sea anemones for Figure 4D and K , Mengying Yin for creating the 3D model in Figure 5B , and Shangnan Zhang for her help with SEM analyses. LAP thanks Heyo Van Iten for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072019 and 42062001), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (193128 and 213111). YZ is supported by grants from China Scholarship Council (201907030012) and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2022ZB457). LAP is supported by an early career fellowship from St Edmund Hall. FSD is supported by fellowships from Merton College and 1851. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Palaeontological Association.",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

day = "9",

doi = "10.1111/pala.12637",

language = "English",

volume = "66",

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T1 - An early Cambrian polyp reveals a potential anemone-like ancestor for medusozoan cnidarians

AU - Zhao, Yang

AU - Parry, Luke A.

AU - Vinther, Jakob

AU - Dunn, Frances S.

AU - Li, Yu Jing

AU - Wei, Fan

AU - Hou, Xian Guang

AU - Cong, Pei Yun

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful for thoughtful comments from Heyo Van Iten, Xikun Song and one anonymous referee and for technical comments from Sally Thomas, all of which greatly improved the quality of this paper. We thank Qiang Ou (China University of Geosciences, Beijing), Jian Han (Northwest University, Xi'an) and Shixue Hu (Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey) for their insightful comments and suggestions, Karen E. Sanamyan (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute) for sharing images of extant sea anemones for Figure 4D and K, Mengying Yin for creating the 3D model in Figure 5B, and Shangnan Zhang for her help with SEM analyses. LAP thanks Heyo Van Iten for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072019 and 42062001), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (193128 and 213111). YZ is supported by grants from China Scholarship Council (201907030012) and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2022ZB457). LAP is supported by an early career fellowship from St Edmund Hall. FSD is supported by fellowships from Merton College and 1851. Funding Information: We are grateful for thoughtful comments from Heyo Van Iten, Xikun Song and one anonymous referee and for technical comments from Sally Thomas, all of which greatly improved the quality of this paper. We thank Qiang Ou (China University of Geosciences, Beijing), Jian Han (Northwest University, Xi'an) and Shixue Hu (Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey) for their insightful comments and suggestions, Karen E. Sanamyan (Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute) for sharing images of extant sea anemones for Figure 4D and K , Mengying Yin for creating the 3D model in Figure 5B , and Shangnan Zhang for her help with SEM analyses. LAP thanks Heyo Van Iten for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072019 and 42062001), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (193128 and 213111). YZ is supported by grants from China Scholarship Council (201907030012) and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2022ZB457). LAP is supported by an early career fellowship from St Edmund Hall. FSD is supported by fellowships from Merton College and 1851. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Palaeontological Association.

PY - 2023/2/9

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N2 - Cnidarians form a disparate phylum of animals and their diploblastic body plan represents a key step in animal evolution. Cnidarians are split into two main classes; anthozoans (sea anemones, corals) are benthic polyps, while medusozoans (hydroids, jellyfishes) generally have alternating life cycle stages of polyps and medusae. A sessile polyp is present in both groups and is widely regarded as the ancestral form of their last common ancestor. However, the nature and anatomy of the ancestral polyp, particularly of medusozoans, is controversial, owing to the divergent body plans of the extant lineages and the scarcity of medusozoan soft tissues in the fossil record. Here, we redescribe Conicula striata Luo & Hu from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, south China, which has previously been interpreted as a polyp, lophophorate or deuterostome. Through re-examination of the holotype and 51 exceptionally preserved specimens, we show that C. striata possessed features of both anthozoans and medusozoan polyps. A conical, annulated organic skeleton (periderm) fully encasing a polyp is found in fossil and living medusozoans, while a tubular pharynx extending from the mouth into a gut partitioned by c. 28 mesenteries, resembling the actinopharynx of anthozoans. Our phylogenetic analyses recover C. striata as a stem-group medusozoan, implying that the wealth of medusozoan diversity derived, ultimately, from an anemone-like ancestor.

AB - Cnidarians form a disparate phylum of animals and their diploblastic body plan represents a key step in animal evolution. Cnidarians are split into two main classes; anthozoans (sea anemones, corals) are benthic polyps, while medusozoans (hydroids, jellyfishes) generally have alternating life cycle stages of polyps and medusae. A sessile polyp is present in both groups and is widely regarded as the ancestral form of their last common ancestor. However, the nature and anatomy of the ancestral polyp, particularly of medusozoans, is controversial, owing to the divergent body plans of the extant lineages and the scarcity of medusozoan soft tissues in the fossil record. Here, we redescribe Conicula striata Luo & Hu from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, south China, which has previously been interpreted as a polyp, lophophorate or deuterostome. Through re-examination of the holotype and 51 exceptionally preserved specimens, we show that C. striata possessed features of both anthozoans and medusozoan polyps. A conical, annulated organic skeleton (periderm) fully encasing a polyp is found in fossil and living medusozoans, while a tubular pharynx extending from the mouth into a gut partitioned by c. 28 mesenteries, resembling the actinopharynx of anthozoans. Our phylogenetic analyses recover C. striata as a stem-group medusozoan, implying that the wealth of medusozoan diversity derived, ultimately, from an anemone-like ancestor.

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KW - early Cambrian

KW - evolution

KW - medusozoan polyp

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85149243843

U2 - 10.1111/pala.12637

DO - 10.1111/pala.12637

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

AN - SCOPUS:85149243843

SN - 0031-0239

VL - 66

JO - Palaeontology

JF - Palaeontology

IS - 1

M1 - e12637

ER -

An early Cambrian polyp reveals a potential anemone-like ancestor for medusozoan cnidarians

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