Echmatocrinus

Echmatocrinus is a problematic Cambrian animal which resembles a crinoid or an octocoral. It is known only from the Burgess shale.[1] 5 specimens of Echmatocrinus are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community.[2]

The creature was a little like an inverted cone, with a crown of seven to nine tentacles.[1] Each tentacle was covered with small extensions. The cone itself was covered with irregularly arranged mineralised plates.[1] The organisms lived a solitary lifestyle, although juveniles are sometimes attached to (or budding from) adults.