Lacalli Thurston C
Biology Department, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N-5E2, Canada.
Bioessays. 2002 Mar;24(3):208-11. doi: 10.1002/bies.10064.
A recent paper by Shu et al.(1) reinterprets the fossil Vetulicola and related forms, all from the Lower Cambrian, as basal deuterostomes, assigning them their own phylum, Vetulicolia. Their conclusion is based on the presence of structures resembling gill slits and a trunk-like region that shows evidence of segmentation. This report summarizes the fossil evidence for their interpretation and evaluates a possible alternative, that vetulicolians may instead be tunicate-like chordates. Implications for our understanding of the nature of the primitive deuterostome (and chordate) body plan are discussed. .
舒等人近期发表的一篇论文（1）对化石威瓦西亚虫及相关物种进行了重新诠释。这些化石均来自寒武纪早期，论文将它们认定为基础后口动物，并为其划分了独立的门，即威瓦西亚虫门。他们的结论基于类似鳃裂的结构以及显示出分节迹象的躯干状区域的存在。本报告总结了支持他们这一诠释的化石证据，并评估了另一种可能的观点，即威瓦西亚虫可能是类似被囊动物的脊索动物。同时，本文还讨论了这对于我们理解原始后口动物（及脊索动物）身体结构本质的意义。
