''Houcaris'' is a genus of tamisiocarididid

radiodonts Radiodonta is an extinct order of stem-group arthropods that was successful worldwide during the Cambrian period. They may be referred to as radiodonts, radiodontans, radiodontids, anomalocarids, or anomalocaridids, although the last two origi ...

known from

Cambrian Series 2 Cambrian Series 2 is the unnamed 2nd series of the Cambrian. It lies above the Terreneuvian series and below the Miaolingian. Series 2 has not been formally defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, lacking a precise lower boundary ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It contains two species, ''Houcaris saron'' and ''Houcaris magnabasis'', both of which were originally named as species of the related genus ''

Anomalocaris ''Anomalocaris'' ("unlike other shrimp", or "abnormal shrimp") is an extinct genus of Radiodonta, radiodont, an Order (biology), order of early-diverging stem-group arthropods. The first fossils of ''Anomalocaris'' were discovered in the ''Ogygop ...

''. The genus ''Houcaris'' was established for the two species in 2021 and honors Hou Xianguang, who had discovered and named the type species ''H. saron'' in 1995 along with his colleagues Jan Bergström and

Per E. Ahlberg Per Erik Ahlberg is a Swedish palaeontologist working with the earliest tetrapods. He took his Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Cambridge in 1989 under English palaeontologist Jenny Clack. He is currently professor at the Department of Organ ...

Species

20191221 Radiodonta frontal appendage Anomalocaris magnabasis

''Houcaris saron''

''H. saron'', known from

Maotianshan Shale 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 ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, is first described in 1995 as ''Anomalocaris saron''. This species is only known from frontal appendages. There is a specimen (ELRC 20001) that is previously considered as whole body fossil of this species, but later study shows that this specimen is not belonging to this species, and later given own genus ''

Innovatiocaris ''Innovatiocaris'' (meaning "innovation crab") is a genus of radiodont of uncertain family from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte of Yunnan Province, China. The genus contains two named species, ''I. maotianshanensis'', known from a near ...

''. Length of frontal appendage is up to at least 12 cm. Sometimes considered to belong to family

Anomalocarididae Anomalocarididae (occasionally mis-spelt Anomalocaridae) is an extinct family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpo ...

Amplectobeluidae ''Amplectobeluidae'' is a clade of Cambrian Radiodonta, radiodonts. Definition In 2014, ''Amplectobeluidae'' was defined as the most inclusive clade including ''Amplectobelua, Amplectobelua symbrachiata'' but not ''Anomalocaris, Anomalocaris ca ...

''Houcaris magnabasis''

''H. magnabasis'', known from

Pioche Shale The Pioche Shale is an Early to Middle Cambrian Burgess shale-type Lagerstätte in Nevada. It spans the Early–Middle Cambrian boundary; fossils from the Early Cambrian are preserved in botryoidal hematite, whereas those from the Middle Cambria ...

and Pyramid shale in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, is originally described as ''Anomalocaris'' cf. ''saron'' in 2003, and later named as ''Anomalocaris magnabasis'' in 2019. This species is only known from frontal appendages and some partial fossils of oral cone (mouthpart) and flaps. Largest estimated length of frontal appendage is 17.5 cm. Sometimes considered to belong to family

References

Cambrian arthropods of North America Cambrian arthropods of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2021 {{Cambrian-animal-stub Cambrian genus extinctions