''Dala'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

pancrustacea Pancrustacea is the clade that comprises all crustaceans and all hexapods (insects and relatives). This grouping is contrary to the Atelocerata hypothesis, in which Hexapoda and Myriapoda are sister taxa, and Crustacea are only more distantl ...

ns from the Cambrian Orsten. The genus contains a single species, ''Dala peilertae''.

Description

''Dala'' is estimated to be around 2 millimetres long extrapolating from partial specimens, with no preserved head in the holotype and only a fragmentary one in the paratype. It has eight pairs of thoracic appendages forming a filter apparatus, four pairs of cephalic appendages, a large labrum and five ring-shaped abdominal segments, alongside a long furca on the posteriormost segment. Two different size groups of ''Dala'' have been identified, although no currently known larvae have been found. A relationship to

Cephalocarida The Cephalocarida, from Ancient Greek κεφαλή (''kephalḗ''), meaning "head", and καρίς (''karís''), meaning "shrimp", are a class in the subphylum Crustacea comprising only 12 species. Both the nauplii and the adults are benthic. ...

was briefly suggested, but ''Dala'' is currently labelled as Pancrustacea ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''.

Etymology

''Dala'' is named for the parish of Dala 2 km west-northwest of the discovery site. Its specific name ''peilertae'' honours Mrs. Christa Peilert "on the occasion of her retirement after 14 years (1966 03 15-1980 07 31) as a technical assistant in the Bonn department".

Distribution

''Dala'' is known from over 60 fragmentary specimens, seemingly due to the whole organism being too large for complete preservation, all from

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...

in between the parishes of Stenstorp and the genus's namesake of Dala.

References

Pancrustacea Taxa described in 1983 Cambrian crustaceans {{Paleo-arthropod-stub