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A new xandarellid euarthropod from the Cambrian Chengjiang biota, Yunnan Province, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2018

Xianguang Hou
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Mark Williams
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Robert Sansom
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PT, UK
Derek J. Siveter
Affiliation:
Earth Collections, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PR, UK
David J. Siveter
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Sarah Gabbott
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Thomas H. P. Harvey
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Peiyun Cong
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
Yu Liu*
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
*
Author for correspondence: Yu Liu, Email: yu.liu@ynu.edu.cn

Abstract

The euarthropod Luohuilinella deletres sp. nov. is described from rare material from the Chengjiang biota, Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3, of Yunnan Province, China. Phylogenetic analysis recovers a xandarellid affinity for L. deletres, representing only the fifth described species of this clade. L. deletres possesses a head shield that is about one-fifth of the total body length and a trunk with 30 tergites, the reduced anterior-most tergite and terminal three tergites lacking pleural elongations. Anteriorly situated notches in the head shield are associated with stalked eyes, in contrast to the more posterior, enclosed eye slits present in Xandarella. Posterior to the antennae there are at least 11 pairs of biramous appendages preserved, including three pairs in the head. The morphology of the midline gut of L. deletres, in which lateral, unbranched diverticula are wider towards the front of the body, is a characteristic also found in various trilobites. The dorsoventrally flattened exoskeleton suggests a benthic or nektobenthic mode of life for L. deletres, as for other trilobitomorphs, and it likely used its well-developed anteriorly positioned eyes for searching out food, either to scavenge or to find prey.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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