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:
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Mandibulata |
| Order: | †Hymenocarina |
| Family: | †Waptiidae |
| Genus: | †Plenocaris Whittington 1974 |
| Species: | †P. plena
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| Binomial name | |
| †Plenocaris plena (Walcott 1912)
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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 edit
- ^ 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
- ^ Hou, Xian-Guang; Bergström, J. (1997), "Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China", Fossils & Strata, 45, Scandinavian University Press: 116
- ^ a b "Plenocaris plena". The Burgess Shale. Royal Ontario Museum. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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 edit
Briggs, D.E.G. (1983), "Affinities and early evolution of the Crustacea: the evidence of the Cambrian fossils", Crustacean Issues
External links edit
- "Plenocaris plena". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12.
- Image of Plenocaris fossil
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