Cincta

Cincta is an extinct class of echinoderms that lived only in the Middle Cambrian epoch. Homostelea is a junior synonym. The classification of cinctans is controversial, but they are probably part of the echinoderm stem group.

Cincta
Temporal range:
Trochocystites bohemicus from the Czech Republic with a length of 15 millimetres (0.59 in)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Clade: Ambulacraria
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Cincta
Jaekel, 1918
Families
  • Trochocystitidae
  • Gyrocystidae
  • Sucocystidae

Cinctans were sessile, asymmetrical animals with a skeleton made of stereom plates and a racquet-shaped body composed of a theca and stele. They may have had a lifestyle similar to modern tunicates, filter-feeding by pumping water through gill slits in their pharynx.

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