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Haikoucaris
''Haikoucaris'' is a genus of megacheiran arthropod that contains the single species ''Haikoucaris ercaiensis''. It was discovered in the Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China. Morphology ''Haikoucaris'' measured about 38 mm in body length. The elongated body compose of a semicircular head shield, 13 trunk tergites and presumely a short, spine-like telson. The head possess a pair of unstalked eyes, a pair well-developed great appendages, as well as 3 more appendage pairs of unknown detail. Each of the great appendage consists of a 2-segmented peduncle and a 3-segmented claw. Each of the trunk segment possess a pair of biramus appendages that each comprising a leaf-shaped exopod and a possibly 7-segmented endopod. Paleoecology ''Haikoucaris'' may have been a predator, with its great appendages and exopod suggested to be used for hunting and swimming respectively. Taxonomy Within megacheirans, ''Haikoucaris'' is generally accepted to be a member of the clade Cheiromorpha alongs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megacheira
Megacheira ("great hands") is an extinct class of predatory arthropods that possessed a pair of great appendages, hence the class name as well as the common name "great appendage arthropods". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. Most of them were found in marine environments throughout the world from the lower to middle Cambrian. Megacheirans were important components of several faunas, including the Burgess, Wheeler and Maotianshan Shales Lagerstatten. Homology of great appendages The homology between megacheiran great appendages and cephalic appendages of other arthropods had been discussed for decades. There is controversy over whether they are homologous to both dinocaridid (radiodonts and gilled lobopodians) frontal appendages, the frontalmost appendages of ''Isoxys'' and chelicerates' chelicerae. Based on neuroanatomical evidences, many studies support their homology to ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megacheira
Megacheira ("great hands") is an extinct class of predatory arthropods that possessed a pair of great appendages, hence the class name as well as the common name "great appendage arthropods". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. Most of them were found in marine environments throughout the world from the lower to middle Cambrian. Megacheirans were important components of several faunas, including the Burgess, Wheeler and Maotianshan Shales Lagerstatten. Homology of great appendages The homology between megacheiran great appendages and cephalic appendages of other arthropods had been discussed for decades. There is controversy over whether they are homologous to both dinocaridid (radiodonts and gilled lobopodians) frontal appendages, the frontalmost appendages of ''Isoxys'' and chelicerates' chelicerae. Based on neuroanatomical evidences, many studies support their homology to ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leanchoiliidae
Megacheira ("great hands") is an extinct class of predatory arthropods that possessed a pair of great appendages, hence the class name as well as the common name "great appendage arthropods". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. Most of them were found in marine environments throughout the world from the lower to middle Cambrian. Megacheirans were important components of several faunas, including the Burgess, Wheeler and Maotianshan Shales Lagerstatten. Homology of great appendages The homology between megacheiran great appendages and cephalic appendages of other arthropods had been discussed for decades. There is controversy over whether they are homologous to both dinocaridid (radiodonts and gilled lobopodians) frontal appendages, the frontalmost appendages of ''Isoxys'' and chelicerates' chelicerae. Based on neuroanatomical evidences, many studies support their homology to c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Chengjiang Biota Species By Phylum
This is a list of fossils found at Maotianshan Shales, whose most famous assemblage of organisms are referred to as the Chengjiang biota. Phylum Arthropod, Arthropoda 80 species, not counting Dinocarida, Nektaspida and Trilobita * ''Acanthomeridion, Acanthomeridion serratum'' * ''Alalcomenaeus'' * ''Almenia, Almenia spinosa'' * ''Apiocephalus, Apiocephalus elegans'' * ''Branchiocaris, Branchiocaris yunnanensis'' * ''Canadaspis, Canadaspis laevigata'' * ''Chengjiangocaris, Chengjiangocaris longiformis'' * ''Chuandianella, Chuandianella ovata'' * ''Cindarella, Cindarella eucalla'' * ''Clypecaris, Clypecaris pteroidea'' * ''Combinivalvula, Combinivalvula chengjiangensis'' * ''Comptaluta inflata'' * ''Comptaluta leshanensis'' * ''Cyathocepalus, Cyathocepalus bispinosus'' * ''Dianchia, Dianchia mirabilis'' * ''Diplopyge'' ** ''D. forcipatus'' ** ''D. minutus'' * ''Dongshanocaris, Dongshanocaris foliiformis'' * ''Ercaia, Ercaia minuscula'' * ''Ercaicunia, Ercaicunia multinodos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Appendage
Great appendages are claw-like appendages which attach to the heads of the "great appendage arthropods", a name usually refers to Megacheira, a class of extinct arthropod characterized by a pair of "short-great appendages" bearing in front of the animal's head. In general, megacheiran's great appendage have 6 segments, with the two proximal segments forming a peduncle and the four finger-like distal segments forming a claw, both connected by an elbow joint. Great appendages have been interpreted as raptorial limbs involved in predation, with those of some genera such as ''Yohoia'' being structurally comparable to the raptorial maxillipeds of mantis shrimp. The great appendages of leanchoilid megacheirans such as ''Leanchoilia'' and ''Yawunik'' have elongated flagella, suggesting a sensory role alongside predatory function. Radiodonta, Radiodont's frontal appendages have controversial relationships to those of the megacheirans. They have been suggested to be Homology (biology), ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambrian Arthropods
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago (mya) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period mya. Its subdivisions, and its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established as "Cambrian series" by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for 'Cymru' (Wales), where Britain's Cambrian rocks are best exposed. Sedgwick identified the layer as part of his task, along with Roderick Murchison, to subdivide the large "Transition Series", although the two geologists disagreed for a while on the appropriate categorization. The Cambrian is unique in its unusually high proportion of sedimentary deposits, sites of exceptional preservation where "soft" parts of organisms are preserved as well as their more resistant shells. As a result, our understanding of the Cambrian biolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambrian Explosion
The Cambrian explosion, Cambrian radiation, Cambrian diversification, or the Biological Big Bang refers to an interval of time approximately in the Cambrian Period when practically all major animal phyla started appearing in the fossil record. It lasted for about 13 – 25 million years and resulted in the divergence of most modern metazoan phyla. The event was accompanied by major diversification in other groups of organisms as well. Before early Cambrian diversification, most organisms were relatively simple, composed of individual cells, or small multicellular organisms, occasionally organized into colonies. As the rate of diversification subsequently accelerated, the variety of life became much more complex, and began to resemble that of today. Almost all present-day animal phyla appeared during this period, including the earliest chordates. A 2019 paper suggests that the timing should be expanded back to include the late Ediacaran, rather than just the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yohoia
''Yohoia'' is an extinct genus of megacheiran arthropod from the Cambrian period that has been found as fossils in the Burgess Shale formation of British Columbia, Canada. It has been placed among the arachnomorpha, a group of arthropods that includes the chelicerates and possibly the trilobites. Fossils range in size from 7 to 23 mm. 711 specimens of ''Yohoia'' are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 1.35% of the community. ''Yohoia'' is one of the "great appendage" arthropods. All taxa have a single pair of large pre-oral jointed limbs with branched spiny ends for grasping, impaling, or filtering food items. "Great appendage" arthropods have been seen as a polyphyletic group where the appendage has independently evolved, or as a Class Megacheira including ''Yohoia'' (with ''Leanchoilia'', ''Alalcomenaeus'', ''Oestokerkus'', ''Fortiforceps'', ''Jianfengia'', ''Yawunik'') defined as euarthropods, plus the radiodonts, defined as a sister group to arthro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family (taxonomy), family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus ''Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomy (biology), taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Predation
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually). It is distinct from scavenging on dead prey, though many predators also scavenge; it overlaps with herbivory, as seed predators and destructive frugivores are predators. Predators may actively search for or pursue prey or wait for it, often concealed. When prey is detected, the predator assesses whether to attack it. This may involve ambush or pursuit predation, sometimes after stalking the prey. If the attack is successful, the predator kills the prey, removes any inedible parts like the shell or spines, and eats it. Predators are adapted and often highly specialized for hunting, with acute senses such as vision, hearing, or smell. Many predatory animals, both vertebrate and inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telson
The telson () is the posterior-most division of the body of an arthropod. Depending on the definition, the telson is either considered to be the final segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segment on account of not arising in the embryo from teloblast areas as other segments. It never carries any appendages, but a forked "tail" called the caudal furca may be present. The shape and composition of the telson differs between arthropod groups. Crustaceans In lobsters, shrimp and other decapods, the telson, along with the uropods, forms the tail fan. This is used as a paddle in the caridoid escape reaction ("lobstering"), whereby an alarmed animal rapidly flexes its tail, causing it to dart backwards. Krill can reach speeds of over 60 cm per second by this means. The trigger time to optical stimulus is, in spite of the low temperatures, only 55 milliseconds. In the Isopoda and Tanaidacea (superorder Peracarida), the last abdominal b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tergite
A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'margin'. A given tergum may be divided into hardened plates or sclerites commonly referred to as tergites. In a thoracic segment, for example, the tergum may be divided into an anterior notum and a posterior scutellum. Lateral extensions of a tergite are known as paranota (Greek for "alongside the back") or ''carinae'' (Latin for "keel"), exemplified by the flat-backed millipedes of the order Polydesmida. Kinorhynchs have tergal and sternal plates too, though seemingly not homologous with those of arthropods. Tergo-tergal is a stridulatory mechanism in which fine spines of the abdominal tergites are rubbed together to produce sound. This process is known as abdominal telescoping. Examples File:Andrena spiraeana abdomen.jpg , Abdominal t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_with_its_prey.jpg "Click for more on -> Predation")
