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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 SR281
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR286
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR287
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR288
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR289
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR290
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR291
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR292
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR293
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR294
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR323
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR342
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR347
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR350
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR352
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR353
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR355
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR356
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR358
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR359

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