In the News (from the University of Toronto News): “A bizarre creature that lived in the ocean more than 500-million years ago has emerged from the famous Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies.

“Officially named Siphusauctum gregarium, fossils reveal a tulip-shaped creature that is about the length of a dinner knife (approximately 20 centimetres) and has a unique filter feeding system.

“Siphusauctum has a long stem, with a calyx – a bulbous cup-like structure – near the top that encloses an unusual filter feeding system and a gut. The animal is thought to have fed by filtering particles from water actively pumped into its calyx through small holes. The stem ends with a small disc which anchored the animal to the seafloor. Siphusauctum lived in large clusters, as indicated by slabs containing over 65 individual specimens.

“‘Most interesting is that this feeding system appears to be unique among animals. Recent advances have linked many bizarre Burgess Shale animals as primitive members of many animal groups that are found today, but Siphusauctum defies this trend. We do not know where it fits in relation to other organisms,’ said lead author O’Brien [Lorna O’Brien, a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto].

“‘Our description is based on more than 1,100 fossil specimens from a new Burgess Shale locality that has been nicknamed the Tulip Beds,’ she added.

“Located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, the Tulip Beds were first discovered in 1983 by the Royal Ontario Museum.”

My Comment: In his fundamental Kabbalistic work “The Tree of Life,” the Ari describes the states of nature: still—corals (an intermediate form between the still and the vegetative), vegetative—Kelev Sadeh, a so-called “dog of the field” (an intermediate form between plant and animal), and animate—an ape (an intermediate form between animal and man).
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