Canadaspis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iCanadaspis | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Extinct (fossil)
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
Canadaspis was a genus of crustacean or euarthropod, a benthic feeder that moved mainly by walking and possibly used its biramous appendages to stir mud in search of food. The genus is placed within subclass Phyllocarida in class Malacostraca that includes shrimps and lobsters.
Once the food was obtained, Canadaspis used its mandibles to grind larger particles. It is possible that its gill flaps were used for locomotion. Canadapsis perfecta, the type species, comes from the Cambrian-age Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada. Canadaspis are also found in different formations of the House Range of western Utah as well as the Pioche Shale of Nevada. Canadaspis laevigata, coming from the Chengjiang biota and thus some 10 million years younger than Canadapsis perfecta, is an equivocal member of the genus. Some scientists believe Canadaspis laevigata to be a more primitive Crustaceomorpha antecedent of Canadaspis, and others consider it a bi-valved arthropod of uncertain affinity.
The phylogeny of Canadaspis, like many Cambrian arthropods is in a state of flux.
[edit] References
- Canadapsis perfecta (a crustacean). National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- Briggs, D. (1978). The morphology, mode of life, and affinities of Canadaspis perfecta (Crustacea: Phyllocarida), Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 281 (984): 439-487.
- Canadaspis from Chengjiang and Utah. The Virtual Fossil Museum. Retrieved on 28 September 2006.
- Lieberman, A. (2003). New Soft-Bodied Fauana: The Pioche Formation of Nevada. Journal of Paleontology 77 (4): 674-690.
