A new arthropod, Meristosoma: More fallout from the Cambrian explosion

Autor:	E. O. Wiley, Richard A. Robison
Rok vydání:	1995
Předmět:	0106 biological sciences Dorsum 010506 paleontology biology Paleontology Anatomy biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Shield Cambrian explosion Thorax (insect anatomy) Arthropod Long thorax Geology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Zdroj:	Journal of Paleontology. 69:447-459
ISSN:	1937-2337 0022-3360
DOI:	10.1017/s0022336000034855
Popis:	New Middle Cambrian fossils demonstrate unusual tagmosis within the Arthropoda. Rare specimens from the Spence Shale of northern Utah are assigned to Meristosoma paradoxum n. gen. and sp. One specimen from the Marjum Formation of west-central Utah is assigned to Meristosoma sp. These taxa are further assigned to the new family Meristosomatidae. Meristosoma, which reached 17 cm in length, is characterized by a short anterior shield, a long thorax with 36 or more articulating segments, and a posterior shield with as many as 11 fused segments. Its short anterior shield and long, multisegmented thorax have a myriapodan aspect, but Meristosoma differs from all myriapods by its posterior tagmosis. In dorsal view, its posterior shield is most like that of some macropygous trilobites, but Meristosoma differs from all trilobites by having a shorter anterior shield, ringed thoracic segments without trilobation, and no ventral doublure. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Meristosoma is a primitive and basal arthropod. A more precise taxonomic assignment is hampered by a lack of information about its limb morphology.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
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