Ancalagon is a genus of worm like Priapulid which existed during the cambrian. It contains only one species, which is Ancalagon minor.
History of Taxonomy[]
In 1911, Walcott named a new species of Ottoia, called Ottoia minor.[2] However in 1977 Simon Conway Morris proposed a seperate genus for Ottoia minor, renaming it to Ancalagon minor.[2][1] Ancalagon was once thought to be an ancestor of the Acanthocephalids, but has since been said to have been a Priapulid. Morris also proposed a new monotypic clade for Ancalagon, Ancalagonidae.[1]
Naming & Etymology[]
The generic name Ancalagon refers to Ancalagon the Black, a dragon in Tolkien's novels "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Silmarillion", in reference to the creature's strong rows of hooks.[3] The specific name "minor" is based of the latin word for "inferior", as a reference to the rather small size of Ancalagon.[3]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Conway Morris, S. "Fossil priapulid worms". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 20.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/mhaaramo/metazoa/protostoma/scalidophora.html#Palaeoscolecida
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/en/fossil-gallery/view-species.php?id=96