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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 SR129
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR133
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR138
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR144
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR151
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR154
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR157
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR231
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR232
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR233
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR235
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR237
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR296
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR304
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR305
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR312
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR321
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR328
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR329
Concavicaris viktoryni (Rak, 2018)Rak et al. 2018 SR332

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