A large Chengjiang sample reconstructs a ciliary suspension feeder while preserving an explicit dispute over which structures and phylum it represents.
Represented range518–518 Ma
RegionsChengjiang biota, Yunnan, China
CladesXianguangia sinica · Cnidaria
Claim ledger
topology · contested
Eighty-five new specimens plus type material unite three named forms as Xianguangia. Ou et al. recover a suspension-feeding stem-cnidarian body plan, whereas Zhao et al. recover Dinomischidae on the ctenophore stem in their main Bayesian analysis and a polytomy under alternative coding.