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Notchia weugi gen. et sp. nov.: a new short-headed arthropod from the Weeks Formation Konservat-Lagerstätte (Cambrian; Utah)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2014

RUDY LEROSEY-AUBRIL
RUDY LEROSEY-AUBRIL*
Affiliation:
UMR 5276 CNRS, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The Weeks Formation preserves a diverse, yet largely undescribed, exceptionally preserved fauna of late Guzhangian age. Here I describe Notchia weugi gen. et sp. nov., a new arthropod characterized by a short cephalon, a trunk with 12 tergites and weakly differentiated into two morphological regions, and a spine-bearing rectangular telson. This combination of characters is incompatible with its assignment to any known groups. The new taxon also adds to examples of convergent evolution of ramified digestive glands in arthropods, possibly as an adaptation to infrequent feeding.

Keywords

Cheliceratadigestive systemGuzhangianphosphatizationSidneyiaStrabopida
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 152 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 351 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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