Cestites is an enigmatic genus known from a single species, Cestites mirabilis, a fossil recovered from the Douglas Lake Member in the Douglas Dam area of Tennessee, a geological unit dating to the Middle Ordovician period. Originally interpreted as a comb jelly, or ctenophore, it was reassessed in 2019 by researcher Gregory Retallack, who proposed instead that it represents a liverwort, an early land plant. Its true biological identity remains unsettled between these competing interpretations.
Facts
Taxonomic Rank Era First Appeared Classification
Living or Extinct Sources
1. Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life- Living or Extinct: No
- Taxonomic Rank: Genus
View the Source 2. Paleobiology Database: Taxon record for Cestites
Paleobiology DatabaseTaxon record, first appearance (firstapp_max_ma, early_interval)Quote, Taxon record, first appearance (firstapp_max_ma, early_interval)
"taxon_name": "Cestites" ... "firstapp_max_ma": 468 ... "early_interval": "Darriwilian"
Douglas Lake Member (Wikipedia)
In Group: Ordovician Problematic Fossil Genera, Section: FossilsQuote, In Group: Ordovician Problematic Fossil Genera, Section: Fossils
enigmatic fossil Cestites mirabilis is known, originally interpreted as ctenophore.
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