A new species of the artiopodan arthropod Acanthomeridion from the lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, China, and the phylogenetic significance of the genus

Abstract

New material of the rare arthropod Acanthomeridion, including Acanthomeridion anacanthus sp. nov., is described from the lower Cambrian Chengjiang biota, Yunnan Province, China. The material includes a specimen with paired gut diverticulae along the length of the mid-gut that resemble structures in other artiopodan arthropods such as naraoiids. Previous phylogenetic analyses have indicated a petalopleuran/xandarellid affinity for Acanthomeridion, but our analysis resolves Acanthomeridion outside the main subclades of the Artiopoda (Aglaspidida + Trilobita, Nektaspida, Cheloniellida + Xenopoda, Conciliterga, Petalopleura (including Xandarellida)) as the most basal artiopodan.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3563C327-EF9C-4A49-B200-417CE5D95D60

Keywords:

• Acanthomeridion
• Artiopodan
• arthropod
• Chengjiang
• Cambrian
• China

Acknowledgements

We thank Jean Vannier (Lyon) for commenting on structures we identify as the mid-gut. We acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers U1302232 and 41372031), the Royal Society (grant number IE131457), and the Leverhulme Trust (grant number EM-2014-068) for this research.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data to support the phylogenetic analyses (see Fig. 5) in this paper can be accessed here

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers U1302232 and 41372031), the Royal Society (grant number IE131457), and the Leverhulme Trust (grant number EM-2014-068) for this research