Amplectobelua is an extinct genus of late Early Cambrian amplectobeluid radiodont, a group of stem arthropods that mostly lived as free-swimming predators during the first half of the Paleozoic Era.
Anomalocarididae is an extinct family of Cambrian radiodonts, a group of stem-group arthropods.
Haplophrentis is a genus of tiny shelled hyolithid which lived in the Cambrian Period. Its shell was long and conical, with the open end protected by an operculum, from which two fleshy arms called helens protruded at the sides. These arms served to elevate the opening of the shells above the sea floor, acting like stilts.
Tuzoia is an extinct genus of large bivalved arthropod known from Early to Middle Cambrian marine environments from what is now North America, Australia, China, Europe and Siberia. The large, domed carapace reached lengths of 180 millimetres (7.1 in), making them amongst the largest known Cambrian arthropods.
This is a list of fossils found at Maotianshan Shales, whose most famous assemblage of organisms are referred to as the Chengjiang biota.
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.
Radiodonta is an extinct order of stem-group arthropods that was successful worldwide during the Cambrian period. Radiodonts are distinguished by their distinctive frontal appendages, which are morphologically diverse and were used for a variety of functions. Radiodonts were among the earliest large predators, but they also included sediment sifters and filter feeders. Some of the most famous species of radiodonts are the Cambrian taxa Anomalocaris canadensis, Hurdia victoria, Peytoia nathorsti, Titanokorys gainesi, Cambroraster falcatus and Amplectobelua symbrachiata. The later surviving members include the subfamily Aegirocassisinae from the Early Ordovician of Morocco and the Early Devonian member Schinderhannes bartelsi from Germany.
Mollisonia is an extinct genus of Cambrian arthropod. 4 species had been described from North America and China. Studies suggest it is a basal member of Chelicerata, a group which includes horseshoe crabs and arachnids.
Stanleycaris is an extinct genus of hurdiid radiodont from the Cambrian. The type species is Stanleycaris hirpex. Stanleycaris was described from the Stephen Formation near the Stanley Glacier and Burgess Shale locality of Canada, as well as Wheeler Formation of United States. A second species, S. qingjiangensis is known from the Qingjiang biota of China. The genus was characterized by the rake-like frontal appendages with robust inner spines.
Tamisiocarididae is a family of radiodonts, extinct marine animals related to arthropods, that bore finely-spined appendages that were presumably used in filter-feeding. When first discovered, the clade was named Cetiocaridae after a speculative evolution artwork, Bearded Ceticaris by John Meszaros, that depicted a hypothetical filter-feeding radiodont at a time before any were known to exist. However, the family name was not valid according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, as no real genus named "Cetiocaris" exists, and in 2019 it was formally replaced by the name Tamisiocarididae, after the only valid genus of the clade at the time. The family is only known from Series 2 of the Cambrian, unlike other radiodont families, which persisted longer into the Cambrian. All known species would have lived in tropical or subtropical waters, suggesting a preference for warmer waters.
Vetulicola rectangulata is a species of extinct animal from the Early Cambrian of the Chengjiang biota of China. Regarded as a deuterostome, it has characteristic rectangular anterior body on which the posterior tail region is attached. It was described by Luo Huilin and Hu Shi-xue in 1999.
Ramskoeldia is a genus of amplectobeluid radiodont described in 2018. It was the second genus of radiodont found to possess gnathobase-like structures and an atypical oral cone after Amplectobelua. The type species, Ramskoeldia platyacantha, was discovered in the Chengjiang biota of China, the home of numerous radiodontids such as Amplectobelua and Lyrarapax.
Robert Riepma Gaines is an American geologist who teaches at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He presently serves as acting President of Pomona College. From July 2019 to June 2022, he served as the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the college. He is known for his research on fossils in Burgess Shale-type deposits, having been a member of two teams that made two of the most important fossil discoveries in recent decades, one in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, Canada and the other in the Yangtze Gorges area in South China.
Houcaris is a possibly paraphyletic radiodont genus, tentatively assigned to either Amplectobeluidae, Anomalocarididae or Tamisiocarididae, known from Cambrian Series 2 of China and the United States. The type species is Houcaris saron which was originally described as a species of the related genus Anomalocaris. Other possible species include H. magnabasis and H. consimilis. The genus Houcaris was established for the two species in 2021 and honors Hou Xianguang, who had discovered and named the type species Anomalocaris saron in 1995 along with his colleagues Jan Bergström and Per E. Ahlberg.
Duplapex is an extinct genus of bivalved arthropod known from the Cambrian Stage 3 aged Qingjiang biota of Hubei, China, with a single species. D. anima. It is thought to be a close relative of Tuzoia, but unlike it, the reticulated bivalved carapace was interpreted to have opened at a wide angle. The carapace had a pair of spines projecting posteriorly. In its original description, it was suggested to have eyes on annulated stalks, but later research suggested that these may have been preservational artifacts instead.
Isoxyids are members of the order Isoxyida and the family Isoxyidae, a group of basal arthropods that existed during the Cambrian period. It contains two genera, Isoxys, with 20 species found worldwide, and Surusicaris known from a single species found in the Burgess Shale of Canada. They are distinguished by their bivalved carapaces and pair of upward curving grasping frontal appendages.
Guanshancaris is an extinct genus of amplectobeluid radiodont known from the Cambrian Stage 4 Guanshan Biota of southern China. It is only known from a single species. G. kunmingensis which was described in 2013 as a species of Anomalocaris before being placed in a new genus in 2023. Like many other radiodonts, it is only known from fragmentary remains, including its frontal appendages and the oral cone. It has been suggested to have been durophagous. Base on proportion of Anomalocaris, it is estimated to have reached up to 22.2–32.8 cm (8.7–12.9 in) long.
Lenisicaris is a Cambrian anomalocaridid radiodont, known from the Maotianshan Shales of China and the Kinzers Formation of Pennsylvania.
Shucaris is a genus of radiodont of uncertain taxonomic placement from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan Shales in Yunnan, South China. The type and only species is S. ankylosskelos, known from multiple specimens comprising frontal appendages, multiple endites, gnathobase‐like structures, a nearly complete body, a head carapace complex, and one body flap associated with setal blades.
