Friday, September 2, 2011


Selkirkia is a Cambrian priapulid worm which has been found in the Burgess Shale in Canada, and in Utah and China.

Selkirkia lived in a cone-shaped tube which had a split at the end. This split was the opening that would have allowed feces to go out of the tube. If it did not have the split, feces would have built up inside the tube and eventually poisoned Selkirkia, then killed it. But that's just my hypothesis.

Click image to see a video of Selkirkia

When Selkirkia died and rotted away, agnostid trilobites dug up the tube and then sheltered in it. Scientists know that because some specimens of Selkirkia's tube have agnostids in them. The tubes inhabited by agnostids are horizontal, but the tubes with Selkirkia still in them are vertical in the rock.

Selkirkia was very similar to its relative Paraselkirkia, but there was one huge difference between the two. Paraselkirkia had a ring of spines on the head that were pointing backwards. Selkirkia did not have this.


  1. That video is maybe a little NSFW.

  2. I love this blog. I check it everyday to see what new pre-dinosaur creature is posted. I've never heard of the Selkirkia. Thank you.