| Ainiktozoon | |
|---|---|
| |
| An artist's illustration of Ainiktozoon loganense | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Thylacocephala |
| Order: | Concavicarida |
| Family: | Cyprilepadidae |
| Genus: | †Ainiktozoon Scourfield, 1937 |
| Species: | †A. loganense |
| Binomial name | |
| †Ainiktozoon loganense Scourfield, 1937 | |
Ainiktozoon is an extinct genus of enigmatic fossil organism from the Silurian of Scotland. Originally described as an early chordate, recent studies suggest that it was in fact an arthropod, more precisely a thylacocephalid crustacean.
A. loganense is known from a number of specimens from Silurian rocks (Ludlow series) at Lesmahagow in Scotland.
Etymology[]
The generic name Ainiktozoon is Greek for "enigmatic animal", from αἰνικτός (aíniktós, "riddling, enigmatical").[2]