Vetustovermis planus

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Vetustovermis planus is an extinct, soft-bodied animal originally found in the South Australian Emu Bay shale, which is Early Cambrian in age. It is better known from 17 specimens, found in the equally old Chengjiang biota in Anning, China, which were recently described by Chen et al. ^[1].

Fossils of Vetustovermis show a dorsoventrally flattened body, usually 5 to 6 centimeters, but ranging from 1.5 to 10 cm. It has an ovate trunk region and a large muscular foot, and a head with stalked eyes and a pair of long tentacles. The trunk region possesses about 50 soft, flexible, transverse bars, lateral serialised structures of unknown affinity. The upper part of the body, interpreted as a mantle, is covered with a random array of spines on the back, while gills project underneath. A complete, tubular gut runs the length of the body.

Though Vetustovermis was originally described as an annelid, and later considered an arthropod, the Chinese specimens cast doubt upon those assignments. Some of the characters observed suggest that Vetustovermis may be related to mollusks, but these traits are also found today among flatworms, nemertines, and annelids, so its classification is uncertain. It may not belong in the crown group of any living phylum.

Early press reports misspelled the genus name as Vetustodermis.