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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 SR360
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR362
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR363
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR364
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR365
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR366
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR367
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR368
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR370
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR371
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR373
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR376
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR379
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR380
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR383
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR384
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR385
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR105
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR185
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR188

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