Scleroctenophora

{{Short description|Extinct class of comb jellies}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Maotianoascus octanarius.JPG

| image_caption = Maotianoascus octonarius

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Cambrian Stage 3}}

| taxon = Scleroctenophora

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision =

• †Batofasciculus
• †Galeactena
• †Gemmactena
• †Thaumactena
• †Maotianoascus
• †Trigoides

}}

Scleroctenophora is an extinct class of stem group{{cite journal | last=Zhao | first=Yang | last2=Vinther | first2=Jakob | last3=Parry | first3=Luke A. | last4=Wei | first4=Fan | last5=Green | first5=Emily | last6=Pisani | first6=Davide | last7=Hou | first7=Xianguang | last8=Edgecombe | first8=Gregory D. | last9=Cong | first9=Peiyun | title=Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan | journal=Current Biology | volume=29 | issue=7 | date=2019 | doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.036 | doi-access=free | pages=1112–1125.e2 | url=http://www.cell.com/article/S0960982219302064/pdf | access-date=2024-12-18| hdl=1983/40a6bcb8-a740-482c-a23c-7d563faea5c5 | hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal | last=Parry | first=Luke A. | last2=Lerosey-Aubril | first2=Rudy | last3=Weaver | first3=James C. | last4=Ortega-Hernández | first4=Javier | title=Cambrian comb jellies from Utah illuminate the early evolution of nervous and sensory systems in ctenophores | journal=iScience | volume=24 | issue=9 | date=2021 | pmid=34522849 | pmc=8426560 | doi=10.1016/j.isci.2021.102943 | doi-access=free | page=102943 | url=http://www.cell.com/article/S2589004221009111/pdf | access-date=2024-12-18}}{{cite journal | last=Klug | first=Christian | last2=Kerr | first2=Johanne | last3=Lee | first3=Michael S. Y. | last4=Cloutier | first4=Richard | title=A late-surviving stem-ctenophore from the Late Devonian of Miguasha (Canada) | journal=Scientific Reports | volume=11 | issue=1 | date=2021-09-24 | issn=2045-2322 | pmid=34561497 | pmc=8463547 | doi=10.1038/s41598-021-98362-5 | doi-access=free | url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-98362-5.pdf | access-date=2024-12-18 | page=}} ctenophores, known from the Chinese Maotianshan shales of Yunnan.{{Cite web |title=WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Scleroctenophora † |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=867234 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101170200/http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=867234 |archive-date=2017-11-01 |access-date=2019-03-11 |website=www.marinespecies.org |language=en}} It is dated to Cambrian Stage 3 and belongs to late Early Cambrian strata. Scleroctenophorans are easily distinguished from other ctenophores by the presence of an internal skeleton that supports the body.{{Cite journal |title=A vanished history of skeletonization in Cambrian comb jellies |year=2015 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1500092 |last1=Ou |first1=Qiang |last2=Xiao |first2=Shuhai |last3=Han |first3=Jian |last4=Sun |first4=Ge |last5=Zhang |first5=Fang |last6=Zhang |first6=Zhifei |last7=Shu |first7=Degan |journal=Science Advances |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=e1500092 |pmid=26601209 |pmc=4646772 |bibcode=2015SciA....1E0092O }}