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Article: A eucrustacean from the Cambrian ‘Orsten’ of Sweden with epipods and a maxillary excretory opening

Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 57
Part: 5
Publication Date: September 2014
Page(s): 909 930
Author(s): <p>Dieter Waloszek, Andreas Maas, Jørgen Olesen, Carolin Haug and Joachim T. Haug</p>
Addition Information

How to Cite

WALOSZEK, D., MAAS A., OLESEN, J., HAUG, C. and HAUG, J.T. 2014. A eucrustacean from the Cambrian ‘Orsten’ of Sweden with epipods and a maxillary excretory opening. Palaeontology57, 5, 909–930. doi: 10.1111/pala.12094

Author Information

  • Dieter Waloszek - WG Biosystematic Documentation, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany (email: dieter.waloszek@uni-ulm.de)
  • Andreas Maas - WG Biosystematic Documentation, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany (email: andreas.maas@uni-ulm.de))
  • Jørgen Olesen - Natural History Museum of Denmark (Zoological Museum), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark (email: jolesen@snm.ku.dk)
  • Carolin Haug - Department of Biology II, Functional Morphology Group, University of Munich (LMU), Planegg-Martinsried, Germany (email: carolin.haug@palaeo-evo-devo.info)
  • Joachim T. Haug - Department of Biology II, Functional Morphology Group, University of Munich (LMU), Planegg-Martinsried, Germany (email: joachim.haug@palaeo-evo-devo.info)

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 12 SEP 2014
  • Article first published online: 21 JAN 2014
  • Manuscript Accepted: 26 NOV 2013
  • Manuscript Received: 7 JAN 2013

Funded By

Yale University
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Feodor Lynen Research and Return Fellowships
Derek E. G. Briggs
German Academic Exchange Service
Danish Research Council. Grant Number: 09-066003

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
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Abstract

The Cambrian species Paulinecaris siveterae n. gen. n. sp., known from two trunk fragments, represents the first record of epipods (serving as gills and osmoregulatory structures) in a crustacean from the Swedish ‘Orsten’. Moreover, it is the first report of the maxillary excretory opening of a crustacean based on Cambrian material of ‘Orsten’-type preservation. One specimen comprises the maxillary segment with an appendage and several thoracic segments with parts of their limbs; a second specimen is a fragment possibly of a more posterior part of the trunk. As in other known small eucrustaceans, the tergites of the new species lack prominent tergopleurae, so that the limbs insert directly ventral to the tergal margins. Limb preservation includes the maxilla and several thoracopods, all possessing a prominent, fleshy basipod with six setose endites along their median rim distally to the proximal endite. The presence of long and prominent limbs of P. siveterae suggests that it had good swimming ability, while the slight C-like curvature of their basal limb part, basipod, indicates involvement of the limbs also in so-called ‘sucking chambers’ for suspension feeding coupled with locomotion. The estimated total length of P. siveterae, 2–3 mm, is comparable to that of extant cephalocarids, but its appendages are twice as long and wide. The limbs of P. siveterae also differ in size and armature from extant eucrustaceans as well as early representatives of this group known from the ‘Orsten’ assemblages. The general morphology of the limbs, for example in having a fleshy and C-shaped basipod with several setae-bearing endites medially, identifies P. siveterae as an entomostracan eucrustacean, but a lack of further details precludes its affinity with any of the in-group taxa. Three epipods on the outer edge of the basipod, as in P. siveterae, are also known from the Cambrian eucrustacean Yicaris dianensis from China and early ontogenetic stages of extant fairy shrimps (Anostraca); their adult stages have two epipods. This hints at an original number of three epipods in the ground pattern of Entomostraca, but some uncertainty remains with regard to the eucrustacean ground pattern because Malacostraca possess a maximum number of two.

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