Description

Thoralicystis zagoraensis
Early Ordovician (Arenigian)
Upper Fezouata Formation
Zagora, Draa Valley, Morocco
13mm on 47mm matrix.

Echinoderm. Soft-bodied.

Thoralicystis is a genus of echinoderm that lived during the Ordovician Period.  It has been assigned to the Class Stylophora though it lacks the five-fold symmetry of most echinoderms.  Some paleontologists claim it is a primitive chordate because it appears to bear a notochord in its tail.  However, it lacks the bilateral symmetry seen in chordates.

Odds are it will be more fully-studied in the future and you want to have it in your collection when that happens.