Cheungkongella

Cheungkongella is a fossil organism from the lower Cambrian Chengjiang lagerstatte, the affinity of which has been the subject of debate.

[2] However, this affinity was later disputed in a paper announcing the discovery of Shankouclava, also from Chengjiang, as the oldest known tunicate.

[3] Cheungkongella has been accepted as a distinct taxon and possible tunicate by multiple workers not involved in its discovery,[4][5][6][7] but the dispute remains unresolved.

A large oral siphon with short tentacles at the top of the animal leads to a pharynx occupying two-thirds of the main body, with a structure presumed to ben an alimentary canal beneath it.

[9][16] The resemblance between Cheunkongella and Phlogites has been dismissed as "superficial" by a researcher not involved with the discoveries of either of those taxa or of Shankcouklava.

Cheungkongella ancestralis (left) and Phlogites (right) fossils for comparison
(BT: branching tentacles; CIS: Complex internal organs; Os: Oral siphon; S: Stem; Sp: Simple pharynx; St: Stomach )