Maotianshania

Maotianshania cylindrica is an extinct worm-like creature of average size (up to 4 centimetres or 1.6 inches long and 2 millimetres or 0.079 inches wide). It occurs in the Lower Cambrian (Atdabanian) Chengjiang biota of Northeastern Yunnan, China. It is usually preserved as pink impression. The gut is a dark central zone. The anterior pharyx and "collar", carry tiny sepia-colored teeth. The very back-end of the body has two small hooks.

Etymology
Maotianshania has been named for the Maotianshan shales, home to the famous Chengjiang Lagerstätte.

Description
The body of Maotianshania is worm-like, up to 4 cm in length and 2 mm wide, having 3-4 rings (or annuli) per mm. Like its relatives Cricocosmia and Palaeoscolex, it is usually preserved as a very thin pink impression on the buff colored matrix that is characteristic for the Maotianshan shales. The front of the body consists of a presumably protrusive and retractable elongate pharynx, armed with tooth- or spine-like outgrowths, arranged in rows and circles and which stand alternately between adjacent rings with the mouth at the very tip. Behind the pharynx is a collar-like "introvert" which also has rows of hooks, spines or scalids. The scalids of the first circle of the introvert form a so-called corona and are remarkably larger than the succeeding scalids. The gut is a simple tube, that often stands out as a darker central canal through the entire length of the body. The teeth, hooks and spines on the pharynx and introvert are sepia-colored, as are two small curved hooks at the very back-end of the body.