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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 SR295
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR160
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR183
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR187
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR210
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR222
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR165
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR168
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018) 292/2018
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR108
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR109
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR111
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR112
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR113
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR162
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR153
Nothozoe barrandei Ich969
Nothozoe pollensfoto XB437
Nothozoe pollensfoto MŠ1546
Nothozoe MŠ1810

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