''Buenaspis'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of small ( long)
nektaspid arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
, that lived during the early
Cambrian period.
[Budd, G.E (1999).]
A Nectaspid Arthropod from the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet Fauna, with a description of Retrodeformation based on Functional Morphology
. ''Palaeontology'', 42(1):99–122 Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
remains of ''Buenaspis'' were collected from the
Lower Cambrian
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 ( ...
Sirius Passet
Sirius Passet is a Cambrian Lagerstätte in Peary Land, Greenland. The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte was named after the Sirius sledge patrol that operates in North Greenland. It comprises six places in Nansen Land, on the east shore of J.P. Koch F ...
''
Lagerstätte
A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These f ...
'' of North Greenland. ''Buenaspis'' looks like a soft eyeless
trilobite
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 ...
. It has a headshield (or
cephalon) slightly larger than the tailshield (
pygidium
The pygidium (plural pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is compo ...
), and in between them six
thoracic
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...
body segments (
somite
The somites (outdated term: primitive segments) are a set of bilaterally paired blocks of paraxial mesoderm that form in the embryonic stage of somitogenesis, along the head-to-tail axis in segmented animals. In vertebrates, somites subdivide ...
s). The genus is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
, its sole
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
being ''Buenaspis forteyi''.
Etymology
The name of the genus is derived from the
Buen Formation
The Buen Formation is a geologic formation and Lagerstätte in Peary Land, North Greenland. The shale preserves fossils dating back to the Early Cambrian period (Atdabanian in the local timescale, about 520 to 513 Ma). , the deposit where the species was collected, and the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
word ''aspis'' (shield). The species was named in honor of
Richard Fortey
Richard Alan Fortey FRS FRSL (born 15 February 1946 in London) is a British palaeontologist, natural historian, writer and television presenter, who served as president of the Geological Society of London for its bicentennial year of 2007.
Ea ...
, a famed paleontologist.
Description
''Buenaspis forteyi'' is between 1 and 3 cm along the axis, approximately half a wide as long, in general outline shaped as a bar with parallel sides and rounded front and back ends. It is likely the animal was distinctly convex, considering the many concentric crush-marks found in many specimens. The
dorsal
Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to:
* Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism
* Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage
* Dorsal c ...
exoskeleton
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...
consists of a cephalon, a pygidium and six thoracic somites with articulating half-rings, all non-calcified. The cephalon is sub-semicircular, broader than it is long, and with rounded genal angles. Eyes are absent. Antennas are not known. The six thoracic somites are extended into broad posteriorly directed pleural spines, which are free at their tips. The caudal shield is slightly smaller than the cephalic shield, and somewhat more rounded. Some specimens appear to have a lengthwise mid-ridge from the cephalon to the pygidium.
Although Budd attributes this feature to deformations, since it does not occur in all specimens known, later authors seem to have accepted it as authentic.
Differences from Liwiidae
* ''Buenaspis forteyi'' differs from ''
Liwia'' by having six thoracic somites instead of four. ''B. forteyi'' also has an oval pygidium with an entire margin, while ''Liwia'' has five pairs of modest marginal pygidial spines, a straight anterior border and a concave posterior border.
* ''B. forteyi'' differs from ''
Tariccoia arrusensis'', that has a subcircular cephalon that is wider than the rest of its body, without a lengthwise mid-ridge, a broad doublure (about ¼× the cephalon length), three thoracic somites, and a pygidium that is longer than wide, with a straight anterior border. ''Buenaspis'' and ''Tariccoia'' have an entire margin in common.
* ''B. forteyi'' differs from ''
Soomaspis splendida'', that has an oval cephalon that is wider than the rest of its body, without a lengthwise mid-ridge, a broad doublure (about ¼× the cephalon length), three thoracic somites, and a pygidium that is about as long as wide. ''Buenaspis'' and ''Soomaspis'' have an entire margin in common.
Distribution
''B. forteyi'' has been collected from the Lower Cambrian (
Atdabanian
Cambrian Stage 3 is the still unnamed third stage of the Cambrian. It succeeds Cambrian Stage 2 and precedes Cambrian Stage 4, although neither its base nor top have been formally defined. The plan is for its lower boundary to correspond approx ...
) Buen Formation, Sirius Passet ''Lagerstätte'', Peary Land, North Greenland, on the south side of the broad valley known as Sirius Passet at its junction with J.P. Koch Fjord .
Habitat
''Buenaspis forteyi'' was probably a marine bottom dweller, that lived in deeper water. This may be deduced from the dominance of eyeless forms and the absence of seaweeds at the collection site.
[Peel, J.S. and M. Stein (2009).]
A new Arthropod from the Lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Fossil-Lagerstätten of North Greenland
. ''Bulletin of Geosciences'' 84(4)
Taxonomy
The author that originally described ''Buenaspis'' and subsequent publications classified the genus as part of the family
Liwiidae. Recently however, Paterson et al. propose to remove ''Buenaspis'' from the order
Nektaspida
Nektaspida (also called Naraoiida, Nektaspia and Nectaspida) is an extinct order of non- mineralised artiopodan arthropods. They are known from the mid-Cambrian to the upper Silurian. Originally classified as trilobites, which they superficially ...
entirely, on the argument that it lacks the 'waist' that is a common feature in ''Liwia'', ''Soomaspis'', ''Tariccoia'', ''
Misszhouia
''Misszhouia'' is a genus of small to average sized (up to long) marine arthropods within the Naraoiidae family, that lived during the early Cambrian period. The only species presently known is ''Misszhouia longicaudata'' (the genus is mono ...
'', ''
Pseudonaraoia
''Pseudonaraoia'' is a genus of small (about long) marine arthropods within the family Naraoiidae, that lived during the late Middle Ordovician period (or Darriwillian epoch). The only species presently known is ''Pseudonaraoia hammanni'' (the g ...
'' and ''
Naraoia
''Naraoia'' is a genus of small to average size (about 2-4½ cm long) marine arthropods within the family Naraoiidae, that lived from the early Cambrian to the late Silurian period. The species are characterized by a large alimentary system and ...
''. Also, they regard the ridge on cephalon and pygidium in ''Buenaspis'' an artifact, unlike the ridge on the pygidium only in ''Soomaspis'' and ''Tariccoia''. If Paterson et al. is followed, ''Buenaspis'' attains a position somewhere else in the
Lamellipedia
Lamellipedia is a proposed clade of arthropods that includes most trilobites (but not Agnostida) and their close relatives. Distinctive of the clade are the flat seta
In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for " bristle") ...
.
Other authors have continued to consider ''Buenaspis'' a nektaspid, but have placed it outside Liwiidae or any other family.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4985481
Nektaspida
Prehistoric arthropod genera
Cambrian arthropods
Cambrian Greenland
Fossils of Greenland
Sirius Passet fossils
Fossil taxa described in 1999