Editing Marrella (section)

==History==
''Marrella'' was the first fossil collected by [[Charles Doolittle Walcott]] from the Burgess Shale, in 1909.<ref>{{cite book|last= Gould|first= Stephen Jay|author-link= Stephen Jay Gould|title= Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History|publisher= [[Vintage Books|Vintage]]|year= 2000|page=108|isbn= 978-0-09-927345-5|oclc= 45316756|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SjpSkzjIzfsC&pg=PA108}} Also {{OCLC|44058853}}.</ref> Walcott described ''Marrella'' informally as a "lace crab" and described it more formally as an odd [[Trilobita|trilobite]]. It was later reassigned to the now defunct [[class (biology)|class]] Trilobitoidea in the ''[[Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology]]''. In 1971, [[Harry B. Whittington|Whittington]] undertook a thorough redescription of the animal and, on the basis of its legs, [[gill]]s and head appendages, concluded that it was neither a trilobite, nor a [[Chelicerata|chelicerate]], nor a [[crustacean]].<ref name="Whittington1971">{{cite journal |last=Whittington |first=H. B. |year=1971 |title=Redescription of Marrella splendens (Trilobitoidea) from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia |url=https://ftp.maps.canada.ca/pub/nrcan_rncan/publications/STPublications_PublicationsST/102/102427/bu_209.pdf |journal=Bulletin – Geological Survey of Canada |publisher=[[Geological Survey of Canada]] |volume=209 |pages=1–24}}</ref>

''Marrella'' is one of several unique arthropod-like organisms found in the Burgess Shale. Other examples are ''[[Opabinia]]'' and ''[[Yohoia]]''. The unusual and varied characteristics of these creatures were startling at the time of discovery. The fossils, when described, helped to demonstrate that the soft-bodied Burgess fauna was more complex and diverse than had previously been anticipated.<ref>{{cite book|last= Gould|first= Stephen Jay|author-link= Stephen Jay Gould|title= Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History|publisher= [[Vintage Books|Vintage]]|year= 2000|page=173|isbn= 978-0-09-927345-5|oclc= 45316756|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SjpSkzjIzfsC&pg=PA173}} Also {{OCLC|44058853}}.</ref>