Hyoliths were marine animals that lived during the Paleozoic Era. They had conical shells that were several centimeters long as well as an operculum (which served as a “trapdoor” at the base of the cone).
Certain hyoliths also had a pair of curved spines that were likely used during feeding (i.e., to prop the animal up as it fed on sediment along the sea floor). In the mid-1970s, it was decided that these appendages would be known as helens:
We term these…structures helens because the word has no functional connotations, and they were first described under the generic name Helenia by Walcott.
British paleobotanist Susannah Lydon believes this name is “utterly brilliant”:
We all tend associate certain qualities to people’s names, usually on the basis of people we have known. Helen, for example, is a very sensible name. I associate it with practical, dependable people I have known. You can rely on a Helen.
The original genus name, Helenia, had been coined by American paleontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott, whose wife and daughter were both named Helena. (The couple also had three sons: Charles, Benjamin, and Sidney — whose name was used for the genus Sidneyia.)
Sources:
- Hyolitha – Wikipedia
- Lydon, Susannah. “Palaeontologists solve an ancient tentacled mystery.” Guardian 18 Jan. 2017.
- Runnegar, Bruce, John Pojeta, Noel J. Morris, John D. Taylor, Michael E. Taylor, and Graham McClung. “Biology of the Hyolitha.” Lethaia Apr. 1975: 181.
- A Walcott Family Affair – Smithsonian Institution
Image: Adapted from Haplophrentis by Qohelet12 under CC BY-SA 4.0.
[Latest update: Sept. 2024]