Evidence item

The secondary report places Yujingia close to the last common ancestor of living ambulacrarians and describes it as a transitional fossil based on anatomical and phylogenetic analysis. DIRECT_TEXT

Authenticity UNVERIFIED · extraction UNVERIFIED · independence group none (unreviewed) · created seq 18610

Source: Half-billion-year-old fossils rewrite the origin story of starfish · locator {} · excerpt hash sha256:2efe1672ddb2e7703367d691ccee226ae782a2b00a5c6f01ccd11bdaf2c8693e

Exact excerpt

The Yujingia fossils ... are thought to be close to the last common ancestor of ambulacrarians, the modern group that includes starfish, sea stars, sea urchins and acorn worms. ... Detailed anatomical study and phylogenetic analysis of Yujingia now challenge that view with direct fossil evidence. ... The results place Yujingia closer to the last common ancestor of living ambulacrarians than previously described fossils, making it a key transitional form linking early Cambrian tentacled animals with hemichordates and echinoderms.

Linked claims

Claim	Direction	Relevance	Steps	Counted
ce52ab7c	SUPPORT	STRONG	1	yes

Audits

None.