Hemichordata

Hemichordata is a phylum which consists of triploblastic, eucoelomate, and bilaterally symmetrical marine deuterostome animals, generally considered the sister group of the echinoderms. They appear in the Lower or Middle Cambrian and include two main classes: Enteropneusta, and Pterobranchia. A third class, Planctosphaeroidea, is known only from the larva of a single species, Planctosphaera pelagica. The class Graptolithina, formerly considered extinct, is now placed within the pterobranchs, represented by a single living genus Rhabdopleura.

Hemichordata

Gustav Paulay · CC0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
acorn wormPBDB
Sits inside
AmbulacrariaPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 326 million years on record.

The record covers at least 525.5 Mya to 199.5 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 538.8 Mya to 192.9 Mya.

Cambrian — about 116 of 8194 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 5402 of 8194 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 2362 of 8194 occurrencesDevonian — about 308 of 8194 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 4 of 8194 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 0 of 8194 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 0 of 8194 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 0 of 8194 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 0 of 8194 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 1 of 8194 occurrences546–534 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences534–522 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences522–510 Mya — about 11 occurrences510–498 Mya — about 63 occurrences498–486 Mya — about 92 occurrences486–474 Mya — about 1064 occurrences474–462 Mya — about 1428 occurrences462–450 Mya — about 1602 occurrences450–438 Mya — about 2239 occurrences438–426 Mya — about 923 occurrences426–414 Mya — about 644 occurrences414–402 Mya — about 86 occurrences402–390 Mya — about 26 occurrences390–378 Mya — about 11 occurrences378–366 Mya — about 1 occurrence354–342 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences342–330 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences318–306 Mya — about 3 occurrences210–198 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences198–186 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences525.5 Mya199.5 Mya546 Mya186 Mya

8,194 occurrences of Hemichordata on record, most of them in the Ordovician. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

8,194 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

694 formations

Phi Kappa — 43.84°N, 114.27°WPhi Kappa — 43.85°N, 114.18°WVinini — 39.87°N, 116.23°WWufeng — 33.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 109.00°EWufeng — 28.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 28.00°N, 105.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 105.00°EWufeng — 28.00°N, 109.00°EWufeng — 27.00°N, 105.00°EWufeng — 31.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 108.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 108.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 106.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 110.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 112.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 31.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 115.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 118.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 117.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 116.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 119.00°EWufeng — 33.00°N, 106.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 103.00°EWufeng — 27.60°N, 105.42°EWufeng — 31.86°N, 111.86°ELower Road River — 68.17°N, 137.00°WLower Road River — 62.47°N, 129.07°WLower Road River — 65.40°N, 137.38°WLower Road River — 66.17°N, 136.08°WLower Road River — 65.88°N, 135.67°WAorangi Mine — 40.68°S, 172.68°EAorangi Mine — 40.60°S, 172.56°EAorangi Mine — 40.72°S, 172.45°EAorangi Mine — 41.99°S, 172.16°EAorangi Mine — 41.67°S, 172.39°EAorangi Mine — 41.75°S, 171.65°ERoad River — 64.50°N, 130.00°WRoad River — 62.64°N, 124.97°WRoad River — 68.17°N, 137.00°WRoad River — 65.35°N, 133.50°WRoad River — 66.73°N, 135.77°WRoad River — 66.60°N, 135.55°WRoad River — 65.93°N, 135.90°WRoad River — 65.47°N, 138.22°WRoad River — 64.76°N, 135.17°WRoad River — 62.12°N, 126.68°WRoad River — 61.63°N, 125.73°WRoad River — 62.47°N, 129.07°WRoad River — 62.42°N, 127.25°WRoad River — 61.70°N, 125.55°WRoad River — 65.38°N, 134.18°WRoad River — 65.05°N, 135.15°WRoad River — 65.28°N, 135.70°WRoad River — 65.22°N, 136.68°WRoad River — 65.40°N, 137.38°WRoad River — 65.48°N, 139.15°WRoad River — 64.92°N, 139.58°WRoad River — 65.38°N, 140.30°WRoad River — 66.17°N, 136.08°WRoad River — 66.42°N, 135.53°WRoad River — 67.57°N, 138.17°WRoad River — 68.40°N, 138.12°WRoad River — 66.47°N, 135.60°WRoad River — 64.92°N, 140.99°WNingguo — 29.00°N, 115.00°ENingguo — 28.00°N, 118.00°ENingguo — 30.00°N, 120.00°ENingguo — 30.00°N, 119.00°ENingguo — 29.00°N, 119.00°ERoad River — 64.95°N, 141.04°WRoad River — 64.96°N, 141.21°WRoad River — 65.19°N, 141.32°WRoad River — 65.35°N, 141.05°WRoad River — 65.27°N, 141.63°WRoad River — 65.96°N, 141.20°WLeslie — 41.14°S, 172.59°ELeslie — 41.09°S, 172.54°ETuloi — 52.22°N, 87.01°ETuloi — 52.02°N, 87.12°ERollston Range — 20.53°S, 146.43°EDescon — 55.63°N, 133.57°WDescon — 55.52°N, 133.30°WDescon — 55.50°N, 133.62°WAcoite — 24.00°S, 66.00°WAcoite — 22.30°S, 65.30°WAcoite — 22.00°S, 66.00°WAcoite — 23.60°S, 65.69°WAcoite — 23.55°S, 65.67°WAcoite — 23.19°S, 65.72°WAcoite — 23.26°S, 65.64°WAcoite — 23.08°S, 65.70°WAcoite — 23.67°S, 65.69°WAcoite — 22.99°S, 65.70°WAcoite — 22.10°S, 65.49°WVoskresenka — 51.17°N, 82.05°EVoskresenka — 51.61°N, 82.94°EVoskresenka — 51.62°N, 82.62°EPeel — 41.14°S, 172.59°EPeel — 41.09°S, 172.54°EDawan — 33.00°N, 111.00°EDawan — 28.00°N, 109.00°EDawan — 32.00°N, 108.00°EDawan — 29.00°N, 109.00°EDawan — 30.00°N, 111.00°EDawan — 31.00°N, 111.00°EDawan — 27.00°N, 101.00°EDawan — 32.00°N, 118.00°EDawan — 30.00°N, 116.00°EDawan — 30.86°N, 110.37°EPozary — 49.93°N, 14.18°EPozary — 50.00°N, 14.35°EPozary — 49.90°N, 14.02°EPozary — 49.95°N, 12.93°EPozary — 50.03°N, 14.42°EPozary — 50.08°N, 14.47°EPozary — 49.52°N, 13.50°EPozary — 49.15°N, 13.57°EMeitan — 28.00°N, 107.00°EMeitan — 29.00°N, 107.00°EMeitan — 27.00°N, 107.00°EMeitan — 27.00°N, 105.00°EMeitan — 29.00°N, 109.00°EMeitan — 28.00°N, 105.00°EHule — 29.00°N, 115.00°EHule — 28.00°N, 118.00°EHule — 29.00°N, 119.00°EHule — 31.00°N, 120.00°EHule — 30.00°N, 120.00°EYinGan — 41.00°N, 79.00°EYinGan — 40.64°N, 79.50°EOued Ali — 29.00°N, 3.00°WOued Ali — 29.55°N, 2.13°WOued Ali — 29.65°N, 2.28°WOued Ali — 29.75°N, 2.28°WOued Ali — 30.02°N, 2.08°WKaradere — 41.27°N, 33.08°EKaradere — 41.35°N, 33.03°ECape Phillips — 75.13°N, 95.00°WCape Phillips — 73.38°N, 99.07°WCape Phillips — 75.87°N, 94.58°WCape Phillips — 75.18°N, 93.93°WCape Phillips — 75.88°N, 94.80°WCape Phillips — 76.70°N, 96.88°WCape Phillips — 75.18°N, 94.03°WCape Phillips — 75.43°N, 94.33°WCape Phillips — 75.14°N, 93.62°WCape Phillips — 78.53°N, 83.32°WLochkov — 49.93°N, 14.18°ELochkov — 50.08°N, 14.47°ELochkov — 49.50°N, 14.33°ELochkov — 49.98°N, 14.33°ELochkov — 50.00°N, 14.35°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Hemichordata has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 670 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,399 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Hemichordata and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Hemichordata and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

2,074 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 602 sites for Hemichordata, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

626 references

Each of the 8,194 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 614 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Hemichordata

Credit
Gustav Paulay
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAmbulacraria through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bateson 1885