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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 SR348
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR357
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR377
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR118
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR119
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR121
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR122
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR123
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR125
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR131
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR139
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR140
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR142
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR143
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR146
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR158
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR161
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR163
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR164
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR166

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