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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 SR308
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR214
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR215
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR216
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR217
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR219
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR221
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR225
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR227
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR228
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR229
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR234
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR316
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR317
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR346
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR349
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR354
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR399
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR401
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR405

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