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Abstract
The lepidocystoid echinoderm Vyscystis is known from the mid-Cambrian (Drumian) Jince Formation of the Příbram-Jince Basin (Czech Republic). Recently collected specimens of this genus, which are very well preserved, provide important new information, resulting in an improved understanding of their morphology (particularly the oral surface), growth trends and an assessment of their phylogenetic position and palaeoecology. Vyscystis is characterized by an aboral imbricate cup and a flattened tessellate oral surface, bearing exotomous curved ambulacra supporting coiled brachioles. A phylogenetic analysis suggests a basal position of lepidocystoids among blastozoans. Vyscystis shares plesiomorphic characters with other lepidocystoids (e.g. calyx) and some edrioasteroids (curvature of the ambulacra). It shows homoplasies (exotomous ambulacral pattern and coiled brachioles) with more derived eocrinoids (e.g. Gogia). Vyscystis was probably a low-level suspension feeder, living attached to hard debris on a soft substrate. Attachment to skeletal fragments was probably achieved by some sort of ‘biogluing’.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Imran Rahman, Bertrand Lefebvre and Tim Ewin for their comments, which greatly helped to improve the manuscript. The authors also thank Petr Daneš for assistance with the English and Iva Vyhnánková for the picture of Vyscystis. This research was supported by GA UK (Grant Agency of Charles University) grant no. 898416 “Revision of eocrinoids echinoderms from Cambrian of the Barrandian area”, the project PRVOUK P45 of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MN) and SYNTHESYS grant CZ-TAF-6890 (EN).
Supplementary material
Supplementary material for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2018.1541485.