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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 SR406
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR110
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR114
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR117
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR330
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR334
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR335
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR336
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR338
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR248
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR299
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR300
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR181
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR182
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR243
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR249
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR253
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR271
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR297
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR303

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