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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 SR337
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR351
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR361
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR369
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR372
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR374
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR375
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR382
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR386
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR387
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR388
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR391
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR104
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR103
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR106
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR130
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR134
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR145
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR147
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR148

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