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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 SR306
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR315
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR331
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR333
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR402
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR413
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR416
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR116
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR120
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR141
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR279
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR150
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR152
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR159
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR197
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR200
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR280
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR284
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR415
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR318

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