''Erjiecaris'' Is an extinct genus of bivalved

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, 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 ...

arthropod, known from the

Chengjiang Biota The Maotianshan Shales are a series of Early Cambrian deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation, famous for their '' Konservat Lagerstätten'', deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. The Maotianshan Shales ...

of Yunnan, China. It is only known from a single species ''Erjiecaris minisculo''. Around long, It has an unusual flattened head-shield, with an elongate body with at least 19 segments and a forked tail similar to ''

Waptia ''Waptia fieldensis'' is an extinct species of arthropod from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale ''Lagerstätte'' of Canada. It grew to a length of , and had a large bivalved carapace and a segmented body terminating into a pair of tail flaps. I ...

''. Unlike most bivalved arthropods, its simple, unstalked eyes are placed on top of the headshield. It was likely a nektobenthic (swimming above ocean floor) deposit feeder. The relationship of ''Erjiecaris'' to other arthropods was considered uncertain in its original description. A later study suggested it was a member of

Hymenocarina Hymenocarina is an order of extinct arthropods known from the Cambrian. They possess bivalved carapaces, typically with exposed posteriors. Members of the group are morphologically diverse and had a variety of ecologies, including as filter feed ...

References

{{Reflist Cambrian arthropods Fossil taxa described in 2014 Cambrian genera