Zhenghecaris Explained

Zhenghecaris shankouensis is an enigmatic arthropod from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan Shales, either classified as a hurdiid^[1] or thylacocephalan.^[2] It is known from several specimens mostly preserving the carapace and eyes measuring roughly, which mark it as one of the largest thylacocephalans, behind Ostenocaris, Dollocaris and Ainiktozoon, as well as the earliest since all other thylacocephalans are Ordovician or younger. Since no appendages have been preserved, the fossil may not be a thylacocephalan, with a hurdiid affinity being suggested instead, due to its resemblance to the H-element of genera such as Cambroraster.^[1] It has also been suggested to be within Arthropoda incertae sedis, as the fragmentary remains cannot confidently be classified further.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Caron . Jean-Bernard . Moysiuk . Joe . 2021 . A giant nektobenthic radiodont from the Burgess Shale and the significance of hurdiid carapace diversity . R. Soc. Open Sci. . 8 . 210664 . 210664 . 10.1098/rsos.210664 . 34527273 . 8424305 . 2021RSOS....810664C .
2. Vannier . Jean . Huang . Diying . Charbonnier . Sylvain . Xiu-Qiang . Wang . Chen . Jun-Yuan . The Early Cambrian origin of thylacocephalan arthropods . Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . June 2006 . 51 . 2 . 201–214 .
3. Pates . Stephen . Lerosey-Aubril. Rudy. Daley. Allison C.. Kier. Carlo. Bonino. Enrico. Ortega-Hernández. Javier. The diverse radiodont fauna from the Marjum Formation of Utah, USA (Cambrian: Drumian) . Palaeontology and Evolutionary Science . 19 January 2021 . 9 . e10509 . 10.7717/peerj.10509 . 33552709 . 7821760 . free .