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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 SR409
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR414
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR339
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR340
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR381
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR394
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR396
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR398
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR400
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR403
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR404
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR408
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR410
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR411
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR412
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR107
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR115
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR124
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR126
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR127

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