Cincta
| Cincta Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Trochocystites bohemicus from the Czech Republic with a length of 15 millimetres (0.59 in) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Superphylum: | Deuterostomia |
| Clade: | Ambulacraria |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | †Cincta Jaekel, 1918 |
| Families | |
| |
Cincta is an extinct class of echinoderms that lived only in the Middle Cambrian epoch. Homostelea is a junior synonym. The classification of cinctans is controversial, but they are probably part of the echinoderm stem group.
Cinctans were sessile, asymmetrical animals with a skeleton made of stereom plates and a racquet-shaped body composed of a theca and stele. They may have had a lifestyle similar to modern tunicates, filter-feeding by pumping water through gill slits in their pharynx.