Alienum
| Alienum Temporal range: Ediacaran | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of Alienum velamenus. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Alienum Liu et al., 2024 |
| Species: | †A. velamenus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Alienum velamenus Liu et al., 2024 | |
Alienum is an extinct animal of uncertain affinities from the late Ediacaran. Estimated to be about 541 million years old, the type species, A. velamenus demonstrates some anatomical characters reminiscent of vetulicolians, predating the first undisputed member of this clade by 20 million years. It was described in 2024 based on a specimen from the Dengying Formation of South China.