A new leanchoiliid megacheiran arthropod from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale, South Australia

Gregory D. Edgecombe, Diego C. García-Bellido, John R. Paterson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    56 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The Leanchoiliidae is well-known from abundant material of Leanchoilia, from the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang Konservat-Lagerstätten. The first Australian member of the group is Oestokerkus megacholix gen. et sp. nov., described from the Emu Bay Shale (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4), at Buck Quarry, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and is intermediate in age between the well known leanchoiliid species from the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang. Phylogenetic analysis of "short great appendage" arthropods (Megacheira) in the context of the chelicerate stem group resolves the Australian species as sister to Burgess Shale, Utah, and Chengjiang Leanchoilia species, but most readily distinguished from Leanchoilia and Alalcomenaeus by a different telson shape, interpreted as being forked, widening distally, and with a few dorsally curved spines at the posterior angle. Leanchoiliid interrelationships are stable to alternative character weights, and Megacheira corresponds to a clade in most analyses.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)385-400
    Number of pages16
    JournalActa Palaeontologica Polonica
    Volume56
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2011

    Keywords

    • Alalcomenaeus
    • Arthropoda
    • Cambrian
    • Leanchoilia
    • Leanchoiliidae
    • Megacheira
    • midgut glands
    • Oestokerkus
    • phylogeny
    • South Australia

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