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Messorocaris, a new sanctacaridid-like arthropod from the middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation (Utah, USA)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2017

RUDY LEROSEY-AUBRIL Open the ORCID record for RUDY LEROSEY-AUBRIL [Opens in a new window]  and
JACOB SKABELUND
RUDY LEROSEY-AUBRIL*
Affiliation:
Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia. Orcid ID: 0000-0003-2256-1872
JACOB SKABELUND
Affiliation:
10496 Raining Sky Street, Las Vegas, NV 89178, USA.
*
†Author for correspondence: leroseyaubril@gmail.com
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Abstract

The Drumian Wheeler Formation preserves one of the most diverse exceptionally preserved faunas of the Cambrian period. Here we describe Messorocaris magna gen. et sp. nov., a new non-biomineralizing arthropod from this formation tentatively assigned to the family Sanctacarididae. The new taxon exhibits a vaulted axial region, and wide pleural regions forming sickle-shaped lateral extensions in the trunk, a character particularly distinctive within the Sanctacarididae. This description provides an opportunity to stress the fact that the ‘Wheeler fauna’ encompasses two distinct assemblages, as confirmed by similarity analysis. These contemporaneous faunas lived at different bathymetries, and should be treated as separate entities.

Keywords

Burgess Shale-type preservationChelicerataDrumianGreat BasinSanctacarididae
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 155 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 181 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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