Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

Muscle attachment scars in helcionelloids from Denmark cast light on mollusc evolution in the Cambrian

John S. Peel and Vivianne Berg-Madsen

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 68 (4), 2023: 625-638 doi:10.4202/app.01101.2023

Multiple, small (diameter <20 μm) swellings on the apex of internal moulds of the laterally compressed helcionelloids Eotebenna viviannae and the new species Eotebenna danica from the middle Cambrian (Miaolingian) of Bornholm, Denmark, are interpreted as a muscle attachment scars. The scar pattern is unique amongst currently known helcionelloids both in the abundance of attachment sites and in crossing the median plane of symmetry on the supra-apical (dorsal) surface. Sites of typically two pairs of dorsal muscle scars in other helcionelloids are distributed symmetrically on the dorso-lateral areas. The recognition of four groups of muscle scar patterns in helcionelloids suggests a degree of anatomical diversity within the group that is obscured by the morphological simplicity of the enclosing cap-shaped shells, although evolutionary links to mollusc crown groups are unresolved. In addition to the muscle scars, traces of shell micro‑structure are described.

Key words: Mollusca, Helcionelloida, muscle scars, Miaolingian, Cambrian, Denmark.

John S. Peel [john.peel@pal.uu.se; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1774-7931], Department of Earth Sciences (Palaeobiology), Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, SE-75236, Uppsala, Sweden. Vivianne Berg-Madsen [vivianne.berg‑madsen@em.uu.se; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2404-7848], Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden.


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