Yujingia and deuterostome evolution: a gorgeous new Chengjiang fossil, but what can it tell us?

The deuterostomes include ourselves, the echinoderms (starfish, etc.:    • Introducing echinoderms: a whole box of cr...  ), and hemichordates as as graptolites (   • Graptolites and their mysteries  ), and form a major group of living animals. (There is a suggestion that they are two separate groups, rather than one, but that's very uncertain.) A new paper describes a remarkable new animal from the Chengjiang Biota, which they argue tells us a lot about the evolutionary history of the Ambulacraria: the group consisting of echinoderms and hemichordates. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/... (not open access) ***Edit: supplementary information can be found here: https://www.cell.com/cms/10.1016/j.cu... As usual, we have a good look... and see what I think is convincing, and what may not be... If you want to look up the original description of Atubaria, then it's a little harder to find... but here's the reference! Sato, T., 1936. Vorlaufige Mitteilung fiber Atubaria heterolopha gen, nov, sp, nov., einen in freiem Zustand auf gef undenen Pterobranchier aus dem Stillen Ozean. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 15, pp.7-115. Presented by Joe Botting, independent palaeontologist and Honorary Research Fellow at the National Museum Wales. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Channel Membership: to support the channel for £3.99 per month, please investigate the 'join' button underneath the video. You can expect 2-3 extra videos per month, showing current research, related mainly to the Ordovician Castle Bank Biota.