Abstract
A new cinctan (Protocinctus mansillaensis gen. et sp. nov.), from the early Middle Cambrian of the Iberian Chains (north-east Spain), is described with the aid of X-ray microtomography and three-dimensional computer models. Investigation in this manner was possible because of the unusual condition of the fossils, which are preserved as recrystallized calcite. Protocinctus gen nov. possesses an elongate body with a single left anterior feeding groove and an open posterior marginal frame (in ventral view): this combination of characters is unique amongst cinctans. Through the study of original specimens and ‘virtual fossils’ it was possible to reconstruct the palaeobiology of Protocinctus gen. nov.: cinctans are interpreted as pharyngeal basket feeders with a U-shaped gut, using their posterior appendage to aid stability on the sediment surface. Cinctans are critical to understanding the evolutionary history of the echinoderm stem group, as they illustrate the transition from a paired water vascular system (basal) to one constructed from just the left hydrocoel (derived). The former condition is also observed in another group of stem-group echinoderms, the ctenocystoids, and is hypothesized for the latest common ancestor of the echinoderms and hemichordates.
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