Wufengella

Described in 2022, the only species Wufengella bengtsonii was discovered from the Maotianshan Shales of Chiungchussu (Qiongzhusi) Formation in Yunnan, China.

[1] The fossil indicates that the animal was an armoured worm that close to the common ancestry of the phyla Phonorida, Brachiozoa and Bryozoa, which are collectively grouped into a clade called Lophophorata.

The fossil was discovered by Chinese palaeontologists Jin Guo and Peiyun Cong at the Yunnan University.

[1] The location of the specimen, Chiungchussu Formation at Haikou, Kunming, Southwest China, is member of the Chengjiang Lagerstätte that is established to belong to Cambrian Stage 3 (between 521 and 514 million year ago).

[1] Luke A. Parry at the University of Oxford identified the specimen as a tommotiid worm, and the description was published in Current Biology.

[1] It has long bristles on both sides of the body that are presumed to be sensory organs for detecting their immediate surrounding such as approaching predators.

Intepretive drawing (top) and life restoration (bottom)
Phylogenetic position of Wufengella