| Kunyangella Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Order: | † Bradoriida |
| Genus: | † Kunyangella Huo, 1965 |
| Type species | |
| Kunyangella cheni Huo, 1965 | |
Kunyangella is genus of Cambrian arthropods known for being a member of the Chengjiang biota, containing the single species K. cheni. It has a bivalved carapace and has tentatively been referred to the Bradoriida. [1]
The Maotianshan Shales (帽天山页岩) are a series of Early Cambrian sedimentary deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation, famous for their Konservat Lagerstätten, deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. The Maotianshan Shales form one of some forty Cambrian fossil locations worldwide exhibiting exquisite preservation of rarely preserved, non-mineralized soft tissue, comparable to the fossils of the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada. They take their name from Maotianshan Hill in Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China.
Forfexicaris valida is a species of Lower Cambrian arthropod, the only species in the family Forfexicarididae. It is known from only two specimens from the Maotianshan shale Lagerstätte.
Parapeytoia is a genus of Cambrian arthropod. The type and only described species is Parapeytoia yunnanensis, lived over 518 million years ago in the Maotianshan shales of Yunnan, China. Unidentified fossils from the same genus also had been discovered from the nearby Wulongqing Formation.
Urokodia aequalis is an extinct genus of arthropod from the early Cambrian. The taxon is only known from the Maotianshan Shales of China based on some 15 specimens. Its segmentation resembles that of a millipede and it possessed head and tail shields with thorny spikes. It has some similarities to the arthropod Mollisonia that is known from both the Burgess Shale of Canada and the Kaili biota of China. Recently, the taxon has been considered a member of the order Mollisoniida, alongside Mollisonia, Thelxiope, and Corcorania, the group are suggested to be stem-chelicerates.
A number of assemblages bear fossil assemblages similar in character to that of the Burgess Shale. While many are also preserved in a similar fashion to the Burgess Shale, the term "Burgess Shale-type fauna" covers assemblages based on taxonomic criteria only.
Acanthomeridion is an extinct arthropod found in the Chengjiang fauna deposits of China. In 1997, it was placed in its own, monotypic family, Acanthomeridiidae. It is known from eight specimens, all found in China.
Chuandianella ovata is an extinct bivalved arthropod that lived during Cambrian Stage 3 of the Early Cambrian. It is the only species classified under the genus Chuandianella. Its fossils were recovered from the Chengjiang Biota in Yunnan, China.
Clypecaris is genus of bivalved Cambrian arthropod known from the Chengjiang biota of Yunnan, China. The genus was initially described for the type species C. pteroidea by Hou, 1999. A second species C. serrata was described by Yang et al. in 2016. The species are primarily distinguished by the presence of a serrated edge on the front of the carapace of C. serrata. C. serrata is noted for the modification of an anterior pair of limbs into spined grasping appendages, indicating a predatory lifestyle. It is unknown whether a similar structure was present in C. pteroidea.Clypecaris is considered to likely be a member or a close relative of Hymenocarina, and is closely related to Perspicaris. As well as to Ercaicunia.
Combinivalvula is a genus of Cambrian arthropod known for being a member of the Chengjiang biota. It was described in 1987.
Ercaicunia is genus of bivalved Cambrian arthropod from the Chengjiang biota of Yunnan, China. It contains a single species, E. multinodosa that was described by Luo et al. in 1999. The total length of the body ranges from 8 to 11 millimetres. The bivalved carapace covered about a third of the total body-length, and has up to six serrations on its forward edge. The head has a pair of large uniramous antennae, as well as a smaller pair of secondary antennae, as well as pair of mandibles and maxillae. The trunk has 16 pairs of biramous appendages. Specimens were CT scanned in 2019, which suggested it to be a stem-group crustacean. Other subsequent studies have recovered it as a member of Hymenocarina, which contains other bivalved Cambrian arthropods.
Haikoucaris is a genus of megacheiran arthropod that contains the single species Haikoucaris ercaiensis. It was discovered in the Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China.
Isoxys is a genus of extinct bivalved Cambrian arthropod; the various species of which are thought to have been freely swimming predators. It had a pair of large spherical eyes, and two large frontal appendages used to grasp prey.
Kunmingella is genus of Cambrian bradoriid from the Chengjiang biota, containing the single species K. douvillei. Kunmingella had 12 appendages, including a pair of antennae as well pairs of biramous limbs, including four anterior pairs of appendages bearing double rows of endites on their endopods, and a posterior 5 with only a single row of endites, as well as two terminal pairs of uniramous limbs. Eggs have been found preserved attached to the posteriormost three pairs of biramous limbs, suggesting it engaged in brood care. Around 50–80 eggs, each around 150–180 μm across were attached in total.
Occacaris oviformis is an extinct nektonic predatory arthropod from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale Lagerstätte. It bears a superficial resemblance to the Cambrian arthropod, Canadaspis, though, was much smaller, and had a pair of "great appendages", with which it may have grasped prey. It was originally considered to belong to Megacheira, however it is questioned in later study.
Pectocaris is an extinct genus of bivalved arthropods from the Cambrian Maotianshan Shales, Yunnan Province of China. There are currently three known species within the genus.
Vetulicola cuneata is a species of extinct animal from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China. It was described by Hou Xian-guang in 1987 from the Lower Cambrian Chiungchussu Formation, and became the first animal under an eponymous phylum Vetulicolia.
Bradoriida, also called bradoriids, are an extinct order of small marine arthropods with a bivalved carapace, which globally distributed, forming a significant portion of the Cambrian and Early Ordovician soft-bodied communities.
Luohuilinella is an extinct genus of xandarellid artiopodan arthropod known from the Chengjiang biota of China. The type species Luohuilinella rarus was described in 2012. A second species Luohuilinella deletres was described in 2018. Both taxa are rare components of the assemblage. Like other Xandarellids and most artiopodans, it possessed an unmineralised exoskeleton. The type and currently only known specimen of L. rarus is known from a dorsal exoskeleton, around 17 mm long and 9 mm wide which consists of 27 tergites with pronounced pleural spines. L. deletres is much larger, with specimens being over 10 cm long, L. deletres possessed at least 11 pairs of biramous appendages. Both taxa are dorsoventrally flattened, making a benthic or nektobenthic lifestyle probable. Both taxa have pronounced notches in the cephalon to accommodate the stalked eyes.
Erratus is an extinct genus of marine arthropod from the Cambrian of China. Its type and only species is Erratus sperare. Erratus is likely one of the most basal known arthropods, and its discovery has helped scientists understand the early evolution of arthropod trunk appendages. Some of the stem-arthropods like radiodonts did not have legs, instead they had flap like appendages that helped them swim. Erratus on the other hand had not only flaps but also a set of primitive legs. It also supported the theory that the gills of aquatic arthropods probably evolved into the wings and lungs of terrestrial arthropods later in the Paleozoic.
Synophalos is an extinct genus of bivalved arthropod. The genus contains a single species, Synophalos xynos, found in the Cambrian Stage 3-aged Chengjiang biota of Yunnan, China. The body has approximately 6 abdominal segments, which terminate in a forked unsegmented tail. It is noted for having been found in unusual chain-like associations where up to 20 individuals were connected via the insertion of the tail into the head carapace of the preceding individual. Similar behaviour is not known in any other arthropod, living or extinct. Its purpose is unknown, though it may have served a reproductive, migratory, or defensive purpose, with the authors of the describing paper considering migration as its most likely function. In 2009, Hou et al. tentatively referred Synophalos to Waptiidae.
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