Etacystis

Etacystis communis
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
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Genus:
Etacystis

Nitecki & Schram, 1976
Species:
E. communis
Binomial name
Etacystis communis
Nitecki & Schram, 1976

Etacystis communis, colloquially known as the H-animal or aitch, was a soft-bodied invertebrate that lived in shallow tropical coastal waters of muddy estuaries during the Pennsylvanian geological period, about 300 million years ago. The classification is uncertain: the animal was likely coloured red and had a unique H-shaped body ranging from 2 to 11 cm long, and researchers have suggested a hemichordate or hydrozoan affinity. However, the animal did not possess a stomochord. Examples of Etacystis have been found only in the Mazon Creek fossil beds of the Midwestern United States.