Skara is a genus of maxillopod crustacean known from the Upper Cambrian Orsten deposit of Sweden and similarly aged deposits in China.[2] It is the only genus in the order Skaracarida and family Skaraidae, and contains three species:[3]

  • Skara anulata Müller, 1983
  • Skara minuta Müller & Walossek, 1985
  • Skara huanensis Liu & Dong, 2007
Skaracarida
Temporal range: Upper Cambrian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: Skaracarida
Müller & Walossek, 1985 [1]
Family: Skaraidae
Müller & Walossek, 1985
Genus: Skara
Müller, 1983

The feeding system of Skara resembles those of copepods and Derocheilocaris, and the three taxa are accordingly grouped together as the clade Copepodoida.[4] Skara is likely to have scraped or brushed the substrate to release food.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ K. J. Müller & D. Walossek (1985). "Skaracarida, a new order of Crustacea from the Upper Cambrian of Västergötland, Sweden" (PDF). Fossils and Strata. 17: 1–65. doi:10.18261/8200074986-1985-01. ISBN 82-00-07498-6.
  2. ^ Liu Jie & Dong Xiping (2007). "Skara hunanensis a new species of Skaracarida (Crustacea) from Upper Cambrian (Furongian) of Human, south China". Progress in Natural Science. 17 (8): 934–942. doi:10.1080/10002007088537494.
  3. ^ "Skaracarida Müller & Walossek, 1985". Centre of 'Orsten' Research and Exploration. February 25, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  4. ^ Joachim T. Haug; Jørgen Olesen; Andreas Maas & Dieter Waloszek (2011). "External morphology and post-embryonic development of Derocheilocaris remanei (Mystacocarida) revisited, with a comparison to the Cambrian taxon Skara". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 31 (4): 668–692. doi:10.1651/11-3481.1.
  5. ^ Mats E. Eriksson; Fredrik Terfelt; Rolf Elofsson & Federica Marone (2012). "Internal soft-tissue anatomy of Cambrian 'Orsten' arthropods as revealed by synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy". PLoS ONE. 7 (8): e42582. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...742582E. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042582. PMC 3411623. PMID 22870334.