An early Cambrian agglutinated tubular lophophorate with brachiopod characters

The referred 710-specimen Yuganotheca elegans sample collectively supports a reconstruction combining paired agglutinated valves, a horseshoe-shaped lophophore, a bipartite tubular attachment structure and a long pedicle; no individual fossil is asserted to preserve this entire suite, and the mosaic supports comparison near the brachiopod–phoronid stem region without resolving exact ancestry.

The referred Chengjiang Yuganotheca sample collectively supports a reconstruction of paired agglutinated valves, lophophore, tube and pedicle; no individual fossil is asserted to preserve every feature, and its exact brachiopod–phoronid stem position remains topology-dependent rather than direct ancestry.

The brachiopod-origin dossier is a navigation route joining Micrina and Yuganotheca character tests; it is not a taxon, direct-ancestor sequence or global brachiopod first-appearance claim.

Zhang et al. place a referred sample of 710 Yuganotheca specimens in the Eoredlichia–Wutingaspis zone of the Yu’anshan Member and correlate it with late Atdabanian/Botoman Cambrian Stage 3, supporting a 521–514.5 Ma sample envelope rather than a global genus range or lophophorate divergence date.

Yuganotheca elegans is represented by a referred 710-specimen Chengjiang sample whose combined evidence supports a reconstruction of paired agglutinated valves, a lophophore, tube and pedicle; no individual fossil is asserted to preserve every feature, and the mosaic supports comparison near the brachiopod–phoronid stem region without resolving exact homology or direct ancestry.

The profiled Yuganotheca material comes from the Yu’anshan Member of the Heilinpu Formation at the Chengjiang Lagerstätte in Yunnan, China; this defined occurrence does not establish a complete species distribution or geographic origin.

Yuganotheca is interpreted as an attached suspension feeder in a marine Chengjiang setting because the referred sample’s reconstruction includes a lophophore and long pedicle; movement, population-wide guild and behaviour are not directly observed.

Across the referred Yuganotheca specimens, paired agglutinated valves surrounding a lophophoral chamber, a median collar above a conical tube, and a long pedicle with inferred coelomic space support a combined reconstruction; no individual fossil is asserted to preserve the entire combination, and homology remains interpretive.