Yuknessia

Yuknessia
Temporal range: Chengjiang-Burgess Shale
Scientific classification
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Genus:
Yuknessia

Walcott, 1919
Species
  • Y. simplex Walcott, 1919 (type)
  • Y. stephenensis LoDuca et al., 2015

Yuknessia is an early pterobranch, known from the Burgess shale, the Chengjiang and the Wheeler shale. Long, unbranched fronds emerge from a central holdfast-like body covered in small conical plates. 23 specimens of Yuknessia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community. The genus contains two species: the type species Y. simplex and Y. stephenensis. It was originally interpreted as a green alga, and has since been reinterpreted it as a colonial pterobranch.