Perspicaris

Perspicaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Genus: Perspicaris
Briggs 1977
Species
  • P. recondita Briggs 1977
  • P. dictynna (type species, =Canadaspis dictynna Simonetta & Delle Cave 1975)[1]

Perspicaris is a fossil arthropod from the Cambrian period. It was 2–3 centimetres (0.8–1.2 in) long and bivalved. The valves, encasing the thorax, were joined together by a dorsal hinge.

It is difficult to establish the lifestyle of Perspicaris. Its large eyes and other parts would suggest a swimming animal, yet it lacks claws, which seems to suggest a bottom feeder.[2]

Two species of Perspicaris are found in the famous Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada. 202 specimens of Perspicaris are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.38% of the community.[3]

External links

References

  1. Briggs, D.E.G. (1977). Palaeontology (PDF) http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol%2020/Pages%20595-621.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/shale/pperspic.htm
  3. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS 21 (5): 451–65. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022.
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