''Kootenichela deppi'' is an extinct

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

described from the

Middle Cambrian Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (di ...

of the

Kootenay National Park Kootenay National Park is a national park of Canada located in southeastern British Columbia. The park consists of of the Canadian Rockies, including parts of the Kootenay and Park mountain ranges, the Kootenay River and the entirety of the V ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is originally considered to be a member of "

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 ...

arthropods", although subsequent studies questioned its affinity. ''Kootenichela'' appears to be the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

of ''

Worthenella ''Worthenella'' is a genus of stem-group arthropod from the Burgess Shale. Charles Doolittle Walcott named the species in 1911. In 2013, David Legg placed it in the family Kootenichelidae as a sister to ''Kootenichela ''Kootenichela deppi'' i ...

'', from

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

analysis. The species name ''deppi'' comes from the actor

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

, after his role as

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Mi ...

in the film of the same name. David Legg, the discoverer of ''Kootenichela'', said: ''Kootenichela'' appears to be a primitive arthropod. It has an elongated body composed of at least 29 segments of similar shape and appearance. On the head, there are large eyes supported by stalks and an appendage resembling an antenna. The appendages bound to the trunk are poorly sclerotised. It was approximately long. Most prominent are the claw-like, spinose cephalic appendages, which seem to suggest affinities with

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 stud ...

, the "great appendage" arthropods. However, study in 2015 researchers could not confirm neither the head configuration nor the megacheiran interpretation of the anatomy. ''Kootenichela'' has been subsequently suggested to be a

chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

of various arthropods such as a bivalved arthropod.

References

Megacheira Prehistoric arthropod genera Cambrian arthropods Monotypic arthropod genera Fossils of Canada Paleozoic life of British Columbia {{Paleo-arthropod-stub

See also

References