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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 SR269
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR270
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR272
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR274
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR275
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR277
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR324
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR325
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR326
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR327
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR389
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR390
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR392
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR393
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR378
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR102
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR341
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR395
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR397
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR407

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