Name: Phylum
Arthropoda: Brachiocaris pretiosa
Phylum
Arthropoda, Subphylum Crustacea, Class Malacostraca, Subclass Phyllocarida
Geologic
Time: Early Cambrian
Size: 68
mm long by 36 mm across
Fossil
Site: Wheeler Shale, House Range, Utah
|  Description:
This unusual Phyllocarid arthropod is known as Branchiocaris pretiosa.
Phyllocarids are one of the lesser known branchiopod crustaceans
from the Cambrian where they are among the earliest animals with
a hard shell. They have a fairly large carapace, which protects
the anterior part of the body. This structure hinged along the dorsal
edge like a bivalve. Usually only the  carapace
is found. Rarely are the soft parts preserved in the Cambrian shales
of Utah. Branchiocaris has been placed by some as a near relative
of Marella of the Burgess Shale, an assignment not agreed to by
all researchers.
The
taxon is also known from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia,
while another member of the genus has been found in the Chengjiang
Biota.
Also
See: Utah Cambrian Explosion
Fossils
|
|
