I actually am saying that I don’t think EITHER is a terribly solid connection, and all options should be on the table until we’ve got something better.
I think there’s no indication of paired ‘stub feet’ in hallucigenia, and that’s one of the biggest problems with it.
So, it could be that those aren’t feet’ at all, but something in between semi-flexible structures and discs, and may not even represent a mode of locomotion. That might be a concept that’s too heavily framed.
Meanwhile, we’ve got very little on the echinoderm tree of life. As I mentioned, while the Crinoid side appears to give us something to go on, but same can’t be said for the rest, especially Sea Cucumbers, which are actually what I’m seeing just as much supporting evidence for despite them being entirely unmentioned.
I’m not saying ‘they’re not worms with feet’, there’s not enough information to discount that, what I AM saying is that this is an option I can find nothing discounting the echinoderms. So they should also be considered as a possibility and at least we should expand the box and get something that actually excludes them before doing so.
I do think the echinoderms may be stronger, especially given the ‘legs’ issue (which is, at the least, a really weird coincidence, don’t you think?). at the least breaking the context is likely useful, is it not?
