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Venustulus
''Venustulus'' is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. ''Venustulus'' was regarded as part of the clade Prosomapoda. Fossils of the single and type species, ''V. waukeshaensis'', have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian period in Wisconsin, in the United States. ''Venustulus'' is one of the few synziphosurine genera with fossil showing evidence of appendages, the other ones being '' Weinbergina, Anderella'' and ''Camanchia''. Despite often being aligned close to Horseshoe crabs, it has been found that ''Venustulus'' and its relatives form a group made up of various basal euchelicerate arthropods more distant to the xiphosurans. Description ''Venustulus'' is the third largest member of its grouping just behind ''Willwerathia'' and ''Weinbergina'' respectively. This arthropod appears to be blind due to the lack of eyes on its carapace, suggesting it lived either in deep water or buried in the sediments. Unlike modern horseshoe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waukesha Biota
The Waukesha Biota (also known as Waukesha Lagerstätte, Brandon Bridge Lagerstätte, or Brandon Bridge fauna) refers to a Konservat-Lagerstätte ( a fossil site that preserves soft bodied remains) of Early Silurian (Telychian to Sheinwoodian) age found within the Brandon Bridge Formation in Waukesha County and Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It is known for the exceptional preservation of its diverse, soft-bodied and lightly skeletonized taxa, including many major taxa found nowhere else in strata of similar age. The sites discovery was announced in 1985, thus leading to a wide plethora of discoveries being made. This biota is one of the few well studied lagerstättes from the Silurian, making it very important in our understanding of Silurian faunas. Some of the taxa found here are not easily classified into known animal groups, showing that there is a great amount of studying that needs to be done on this site. Other taxa that are normally common in other Silurian deposi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synziphosurine
Synziphosurina is a paraphyletic group of chelicerate arthropods previously thought to be basal horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura). It was later identified as a grade composed of various basal euchelicerates, eventually excluded form the monophyletic Xiphosura ''sensu stricto'' and only regarded as horseshoe crabs under a broader sense ('Xiphosura' ''sensu lato''). Synziphosurines survived at least since early Ordovician to early Carboniferous in ages, with most species are known from the in-between Silurian strata. File:20200920 Synziphosurina dorsal segmentation.png, Dorsal morphology and variation of opisthosomal segmentation across synziphosurines. While ''Weinbergina'' and ''Willwerathia'' being exceptionally large, most synziphosurines are small arthropods with body length ranging only about a few centimeters long. The body of synziphosurine composed of a prosoma covered by a dome-like carapace (prosomal dorsal shield) and an opisthosoma with usually unfused 9-11 segments expre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosomapoda
Prosomapoda is a clade of euchelicerates including the groups Xiphosura (horseshoe crabs) and Planaterga (a group comprising bunodids, pseudoniscids, chasmataspidids, eurypterids and arachnids), as well as several basal synziphosurid genera. The clade is defined by the lack of exopods (outer branches) of prosomal appendage II-V in the adult instar, where in contrast the exopods of appendage II-V are well-developed in the non-prosomapod euchelicerates '' Offacolus'' and ''Dibasterium ''Dibasterium'' is an extinct genus of euchelicerate, a group of chelicerate arthropods. Fossils of the single and type species, ''D. durgae'', have been discovered in the Coalbrookdale Formation of the Middle Silurian period (Homerian age) in ...''. References Middle Ordovician first appearances {{Chelicerata-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chelicerate
The subphylum Chelicerata (from New Latin, , ) constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. It contains the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids (including harvestmen, scorpions, spiders, solifuges, ticks, and mites, among many others), as well as a number of extinct lineages, such as the eurypterids (sea scorpions) and chasmataspidids. The Chelicerata originated as marine animals in the Middle Cambrian period; the first confirmed chelicerate fossils, belonging to '' Sanctacaris'', date from 508 million years ago. The surviving marine species include the four species of xiphosurans (horseshoe crabs), and possibly the 1,300 species of pycnogonids (sea spiders), if the latter are indeed chelicerates. On the other hand, there are over 77,000 well-identified species of air-breathing chelicerates, and there may be about 500,000 unidentified species. Like all arthropods, chelicerates have segmented bodies with jointed limbs, all covered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euchelicerate
The subphylum Chelicerata (from New Latin, , ) constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. It contains the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids (including harvestmen, scorpions, spiders, solifuges, ticks, and mites, among many others), as well as a number of extinct lineages, such as the eurypterids (sea scorpions) and chasmataspidids. The Chelicerata originated as marine animals in the Middle Cambrian period; the first confirmed chelicerate fossils, belonging to ''Sanctacaris'', date from 508 million years ago. The surviving marine species include the four species of xiphosurans (horseshoe crabs), and possibly the 1,300 species of pycnogonids (sea spiders), if the latter are indeed chelicerates. On the other hand, there are over 77,000 well-identified species of air-breathing chelicerates, and there may be about 500,000 unidentified species. Like all arthropods, chelicerates have segmented bodies with jointed limbs, all covered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camanchia
''Camanchia'' is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of fossil chelicerate arthropods. ''Camanchia'' was regarded as part of the clade Prosomapoda. Fossils of the single and type species, ''C. grovensis'', have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian period in Iowa, in the United States. Alongside '' Venustulus'', ''Camanchia'' is one of the only Silurian synziphosurine with fossil showing evidence of appendages. The prosoma of ''Camanchia'' covered by a smoothly curved subtriangular carapace with broad doublure (ventral thickening run through the margin of carapace). Detail of the 6 prosomal appendage pairs (chelicerae+5 leg pairs) obscure, at least the first leg pair (appendage II) have spur-like terminations. Opisthosoma is externally 10-segmented with tergites possses blunt pleurae (lateral extension). The last 3 opisthosomal segments forming a narrow postabdomen with short pleurae. Telson The telson () is the posterior-most division of the body of an art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carapace
A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron. Crustaceans In crustaceans, the carapace functions as a protective cover over the cephalothorax (i.e., the fused head and thorax, as distinct from the abdomen behind). Where it projects forward beyond the eyes, this projection is called a rostrum (anatomy), rostrum. The carapace is Calcification, calcified to varying degrees in different crustaceans. Zooplankton within the phylum Crustacea also have a carapace. These include Cladocera, ostracods, and Isopoda, isopods, but isopods only have a developed "cephalic shield" carapace covering the head. Arachnids In arachnids, the carapace is formed by the fusion of prosomal tergites into a single Plate (animal anatomy), plate which carries the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, basal is the direction of the ''base'' (or root) of a phylogenetic tree#Rooted tree, rooted phylogenetic tree or cladogram. The term may be more strictly applied only to nodes adjacent to the root, or more loosely applied to nodes regarded as being close to the root. Note that extant taxa that lie on branches connecting directly to the root are not more closely related to the root than any other extant taxa. While there must always be two or more equally "basal" clades sprouting from the root of every cladogram, those clades may differ widely in taxonomic rank, Phylogenetic diversity, species diversity, or both. If ''C'' is a basal clade within ''D'' that has the lowest rank of all basal clades within ''D'', ''C'' may be described as ''the'' basal taxon of that rank within ''D''. The concept of a 'key innovation' implies some degree of correlation between evolutionary innovation and cladogenesis, diversification. However, such a correlation does not make a given ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xiphosura
Xiphosura () is an order of arthropods related to arachnids. They are more commonly known as horseshoe crabs (a name applied more specifically to the only extant family, Horseshoe crab, Limulidae). They first appeared in the Hirnantian (Late Ordovician). Currently, there are only four living species. Xiphosura contains one suborder, Xiphosurida, and several stem-genera. The group has hardly changed in appearance in hundreds of millions of years; the modern horseshoe crabs look almost identical to prehistoric genera and are considered to be living fossils. The most notable difference between ancient and modern forms is that the abdominal segments in present species are fused into a single unit in adults. Xiphosura were historically placed in the class Merostomata, although this term was intended to encompass also the Eurypterida, eurypterids, whence it denoted what is now known to be an unnatural (paraphyletic) group (although this is a grouping recovered in some recent cladistic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willwerathia
''Willwerathia'' is a genus of synziphosurine, a paraphyletic group of horseshoe crab-like fossil chelicerate arthropods. ''Willwerathia'' known only by one species, ''Willwerathia laticeps'', discovered in deposits of the Devonian period from the Klerf Formation, in the Rhenish Slate Mountains of Germany. Morphology As a synziphosurine, ''Willwerathia'' is unusually large and so far the largest known synziphosurine, with largest carapace measured about 90mm in width. Prosoma of ''Willwerathia'' covered by a vaulted carapace with pointed genal spines, recurved (M-shaped) ophthalmic ridges and pairs of dorsal nodes. Tergites of the opisthosoma are either incomplete or disarticulated in available fossil materials, making it difficult to reveal the original number of opisthosomal segments. The opisthosoma of ''Willwerathia'' most likely compose of 10 segments, each expressed by a tergite that bore a median dorsal spine and a pair of tergopleurae (lateral extensions). The opisth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoic Era. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the exact dates are uncertain by a few million years. The base of the Silurian is set at a series of major Ordovician–Silurian extinction events when up to 60% of marine genera were wiped out. One important event in this period was the initial establishment of terrestrial life in what is known as the Silurian-Devonian Terrestrial Revolution: vascular plants emerged from more primitive land plants, dikaryan fungi started expanding and diversifying along with glomeromycotan fungi, and three groups of arthropods (myriapods, arachnids and hexapods) became fully terrestrialized. A significant evolutionary milestone during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genal Angle
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period () and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic before slipping into a long decline, when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetida died out. The last extant trilobites finally disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for almost 270 million years, with over 22,000 species having been described. By the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record. The stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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