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
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"
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