I don't think it is a fossil lamprey

[Geoff Read]

John Bruner:
> Shu, D., Morris, S. Conway, Zhang, X-L., Chen, L., Li, Y., and Han, J.
> 1999.  A pipiscid-like fossil from the Lower Cambrian of south China.
> Nature Vol. 400 (6746):746-749.

> [snip] my take on *X. stephanus* is that it looks like an
> invertebrate to me.

Me too. Reverse their 'anterior'  and 'posterior' and Xidazoon stephanus is a
very good fit to certain of the Echiura, or spoon worms (2 circles of
posterior spines, pair of anterior spines, with proboscis  lost or reduced). It
would also be useful to know what other fossils occur with it. The authors
don't say.

The  clear photos (f & g) of a well-ordered 'feeding apparatus' are not of the
new beast, but of the Pipiscius holotype. This somewhat misled me in my
first skim reading.


--
  Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.cri.nz>