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Thylacocephala

      The Thylacocephala (from the Greek thylakos, meaning "pouch", and cephalon meaning "head") are a unique group of extinct arthropods, with possible crustacean affinities. As a class they have a short research history, having been erected in the early 1980s.[1][2][3] They typically possess a large, laterally flattened carapace that encompasses the entire body. The compound eyes tend to be large and bulbous, and occupy a frontal notch on the carapace. They possess three pairs of large raptorial limbs, and the abdomen bears a battery of small swimming limbs. The earliest thylacocephalan fossil is thought to date from the lower Cambrian,[4] while the class has a definite presence in Lower Silurian marine communities.[5] As a group, the Thylacocephala survived to the Upper Cretaceous.[6] Beyond this, there remains much uncertainty concerning fundamental aspects of the thylacocephalan anatomy, mode of life, and relationship to the Crustacea, with whom they have always been cautiously aligned.
<I>Clausocaris lithographica</I> - a Jurrassic representative of Thylacocephala
Clausocaris lithographica - a Jurrassic representative of Thylacocephala
An enigmatic animal <I>Ainiktozoon loganense</I> probably also belongs to the Thylacocephala
An enigmatic animal Ainiktozoon loganense probably also belongs to the Thylacocephala
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR240
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR241
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR242
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR244
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR245
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR246
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR247
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR250
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR251
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR252
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR254
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR257
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR258
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR259
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR260
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR261
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR264
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR265
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR267
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR268

Virtual museum of the Czech Geological Survey, www.geology.cz, (C) Czech Geological Survey, 2011, v.0.99 [13.12.2011]