Sollasina is an extinct genus of ophiocistioid that is known from Silurian to Devonian.[1][2][3]

Sollasina
Temporal range: Homerian–Eifelian[1]
Life restoration of Sollasina cthulhu
Scientific classification
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Phylum:
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Genus:
Sollasina

Fedotov, 1926
Species

Sollasina woodwardi Sollas, 1899 (type)
Sollasina westfalica Richter, 1930
Sollasina cthulhu Rahman et al., 2019

Taxonomy

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Sollasina cthulhu from the Coalbrookdale Formation of the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte in England was named after H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.[1][4] The fossil was 3 cm wide, and the animal was likely the size of a large spider, with 45 tentacle-like tube feet.[5][6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Rahman, Imran A.; Thompson, Jeffrey R.; Briggs, Derek E. G.; Siveter, David J.; Siveter, Derek J.; Sutton, Mark D. (2019). "A new ophiocistioid with soft-tissue preservation from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte, and the evolution of the holothurian body plan". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286 (1900): 20182792. doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.2792. PMC 6501687. PMID 30966985.
  2. ^ Shelton, Jim (11 April 2019). "Researchers Discover Fossils of Cthulhu-Like Creature". Scitech Daily. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Fossilworks: Sollasina". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  4. ^ Kristoffersen, Matt (16 April 2019). "Yale, UK scientists name ancient species after Cthulhu". Yale News. New Haven, Connecticut.
  5. ^ "The return of Cthulhu — the small sea critter". 9 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Tentacled 'Cthulhu' fossil reconstruction reveals monstrous relative of modern sea cucumbers".