Organism · Molluscs
Odontogriphus omalus
Source time context (not species duration) · ≈ 539–487 Ma
Inferred life reconstruction
Odontogriphus omalus
Overview
Odontogriphus omalus is an organism with a flat, smooth, oval body. Its ventral mouth and radula, broad muscular foot, and surrounding gills have been studied. Different organs are gathered beneath the overall outline.[1]
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Key facts
Two main rows of teeth are described in the radula. The dorsal surface is covered by a reinforced cuticle. This organism allows the different structures of the back and underside to be examined.[1][2]
Time and place
It is known from Middle Cambrian material in the Burgess Shale of present-day Canada. The institution presents its occurrence as around 505 million years ago. Other organisms such as Louisella occur in the Walcott Quarry fossil assemblage and can be compared with it.[1][4][5][3]
The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.
Size, form and skeleton
The body is flat, smooth, and oval. A mouth and radula, broad muscular foot, and surrounding gills are described on the underside. The hardened covering of the back and the organs underneath can be examined separately.[1]
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Habitat and reproduction
The research addresses a functional interpretation in which it crawled using waves of movement along the foot and fed on microbial films. The ventral mouth and radula, along with the muscular foot, provide clues to its life. This is an example of interpreting function by considering several organs together.[1][4]
Fossil discovery
The institution explains that 189 additional specimens collected between 1990 and 2000 were used in the research. A 2006 paper addressed this soft-bodied organism with a radula. Many new fossils provided a basis for understanding small organs.[2][4]
References
- Royal Ontario Museum — Odontogriphus omalus
- Caron et al. (2006) — A Burgess Shale mollusk with a radula
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
- ROM · Odontogriphus omalus
- Royal Ontario Museum — Louisella pedunculata
- Royal Ontario Museum — Odontogriphus omalus
- Royal Ontario Museum — New specimens and body of Odontogriphus
- Royal Ontario Museum — Louisella pedunculata
- ROM · Hallucigenia sparsa
Research questions
What lay beneath the flat body? Distinguishing the mouth and radula, muscular foot, and gills reveals an arrangement of organs difficult to discern from the overall outline. This research reads the back and underside from different perspectives.[1]
Observation
Move your gaze from the smooth oval outline to the ventral mouth and radula and the broad foot. Considering the surrounding gills together with the dorsal covering helps compare the upper and lower sides of the body.[1]
Related organisms
Louisella pedunculataAnimalsSource time context (not species duration) · ≈ 539–487 MaOrganisms from the same Walcott Quarry
Odontogriphus and Louisella are known from the Burgess Shale fossil assemblage at the Walcott Quarry. Compare different bodies in material from the same time and place.
Hallucigenia sparsaAnimalsSource time context (not species duration) · ≈ 539–487 MaSmooth and spiny bodies of the Cambrian seas
Odontogriphus and Hallucigenia are Cambrian animals from the Burgess Shale of present-day Canada. Compare a flat, smooth body with a body bearing spines and legs to encounter the varied forms of ancient marine animals.