| Waptia Temporal range: Middle Cambrian |
|
|---|---|
| A fossil (top) and reconstruction of Waptia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| (unranked): | Crustaceanomorpha |
| Order: | Waptiida† |
| Family: | Waptiidae |
| Genus: | Waptia |
| Species: | W. fieldensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Waptia fieldensis Walcott, 1912 |
|
Waptia fieldensis was a small, shrimp-like stem group crustacean. Many Cambrian crustaceomorphs such as Waptia lack the mouthparts to be classified as crown group crustaceans that lived during the Middle Cambrian about 510 million years ago. 454 specimens of Waptia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.86% of the community.[1]
Waptia-like arthropods discovered in the Chengjiang form chains of up to 20 individuals, with each animal's tail nested in the carapace of the one behind. These chains must have been rigid to be preserved.[2]