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Abstract
A new bivalved arthropod Erjiecaris minusculo gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, Yunnan, southwest China. It possesses mosaic features, such as the reduced shield that is dorsoventrally flattened, dorsally positioned eyes, ring-shaped somites and broad furcal rami. These provide an important link for assessing the evolutionary morphological gap between two distinctive Cambrian arthropod groups, crustaceanomorph and trilobite-like taxa. Thus, the new finding reported here in turn improves the understanding of the body plan of early arthropods and provides fresh insight into the evolution of the carapace/head shield and visual system.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to many staff members at the ELI for joining in the fieldwork and technical assistance. This work was financed by 973 Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grants: 2013CB837100 and 2013CB835002), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 41272019, 41202007 and 40830208), the Major Basic Research Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant: 2013CB806400), State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (No.123113) and the Swedish Research Council (VR) to GEB.