Plenocaris

Plenocaris plena is a Cambrian arthropod with a bivalved carapace, and is known from the Burgess shale[1] and Chengjiang.[2] Originally described as a species of Yohoia by Walcott in 1912, it was placed into its own genus in 1974.

Plenocaris
Temporal range:
Life restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Mandibulata
Order: †Hymenocarina
Family: †Waptiidae
Genus: †Plenocaris
Whittington 1974
Species:
†P. plena
Binomial name
†Plenocaris plena
(Walcott 1912)
Fossil of Plenocaris pena

The head has a pair of simple antennae. The body has 13 tergites, with trunk tergites 2 to 4 having pairs of elongate and uniramous appendages, with appendages absent from the other body segments.[3] The body terminates with paired tail flukes. unlike waptiids, but similar to Synophalos, the tail flukes lack segmentation.[4] 106 specimens of Plenocaris are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.20% of the community.[5] It has been suggested to be a member of Hymenocarina, which contains numerous other Cambrian bivalved arthropods.[6] Some specimens have been found with sediment within the gut tract, suggesting it was a deposit feeder. The lack of swimming appendages means that swimming was likely primarily accomplished with movement of the trunk and tail fan.[3]

References
  1. Whittington, Harry B. (1974), "Yohoia Walcott and Plenocaris n. Gen., arthropods from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia", Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin: 1–21
  2. Hou, Xian-Guang; Bergström, J. (1997), "Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China", Fossils & Strata, Scandinavian University Press, 45: 116
  3. "Plenocaris plena". The Burgess Shale. Royal Ontario Museum. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  4. Yang, Jie; Ortega-Hernández, Javier; Lan, Tian; Hou, Jin-bo; Zhang, Xi-guang (2016-06-10). "A predatory bivalved euarthropod from the Cambrian (Stage 3) Xiaoshiba Lagerstätte, South China". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 27709. Bibcode:2016NatSR...627709Y. doi:10.1038/srep27709. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4901283. PMID 27283406.
  5. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. Bibcode:2006Palai..21..451C. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022. S2CID 53646959.
  6. Vannier, Jean; Aria, Cédric; Taylor, Rod S.; Caron, Jean-Bernard (June 2018). "Waptia fieldensis Walcott, a mandibulate arthropod from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (6): 172206. Bibcode:2018RSOS....572206V. doi:10.1098/rsos.172206. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 6030330. PMID 30110460.

Further reading

Briggs, D.E.G. (1983), "Affinities and early evolution of the Crustacea: the evidence of the Cambrian fossils", Crustacean Issues


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