Jianshanopodia

Jianshanopodia
Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3
Reconstruction of Jianshanopodia decora
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
†"Lobopodia"
Class:
†Xenusia
Order:
†Siberiida[1]
Family:
†Siberiidae[1]
Genus:
†Jianshanopodia
Species:
†J. decora
Liu et al., 2006

Jianshanopodia is a monotypic genus of Cambrian lobopodian, discovered from Maotianshan Shales of Yunnan, China.[2]

Description

diagrammatic reconstruction
Fossils

Jianshanopodia resemble the closely-related siberiid Megadictyon. The head possess a pair of frontal, grasping[3] appendages bear wedge-shaped plates. The pharynx was surrounded by rows of denticles, resembles those of radiodonts and priapulids.[4][5] The trunk was annulated and possesses a pair of stout legs (lobopods) per body segment. Due to the lack of a complete specimen, the exact number of body segments/leg pair is uncertain. If 12 body segments present, the living animal might grew over 20 cm.[2] Each of the leg was lined up with rows of tubercles and tree-like branches,[2] instead of being tipped with claws as many lobopodians are.[3] The trunk terminated with a large median lobe and a pair of small lateral lobes, forming a fan-like structure.[2] Inside the trunk was a sediment-filled gut surrounded by serially repeated diverticulae.[3][2]

Jianshanopodia was suggested to be mainly crawled on the sea floor, but could swim with its fan-like tail when necessary.[2][3] The leg branches might function as external gills.[2] It is thought to be predatory and have sucked up prey with its short 'trunk',[3] consuming food items with its robust mouthparts and gut diverticulae.[6]

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic position of Jianshanopodia according to Pates et al. (2022).[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Dzik, Jerzy (2011). "The xenusian-to-anomalocaridid transition within the lobopodians" (PDF). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 50 (1): 65–74.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jianni Liu; Degan Shu; Jian Han; Zhifei Zhang; Xingliang Zhang (2006). "A large xenusiid lobopod with complex appendages from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 51 (2): 215–222. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e Liu, J.; Shu, D.; Han, J.; Zhang, Z.; Zhang, X. (2008). "Origin, diversification, and relationships of Cambrian lobopods". Gondwana Research. 14 (1–2): 277–283. Bibcode:2008GondR..14..277L. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2007.10.001.
  4. ^ Vannier, Jean; Liu, Jianni; Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Vinther, Jakob; Daley, Allison C (2014). "Sophisticated digestive systems in early arthropods". Nature Communications. 5: 3641. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.3641V. doi:10.1038/ncomms4641. PMID 24785191.
  5. ^ Smith; Caron (2015). "Hallucigenia's head and the pharyngeal armature of early ecdysozoans" (PDF). Nature. 523 (7558): 75–8. Bibcode:2015Natur.523...75S. doi:10.1038/nature14573. PMID 26106857. S2CID 205244325.
  6. ^ Vannier, Jean; Liu, Jianni; Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Vinther, Jakob; Daley, Allison C. (2014-05-02). "Sophisticated digestive systems in early arthropods". Nature Communications. 5 (1): 3641. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.3641V. doi:10.1038/ncomms4641. ISSN 2041-1723. PMID 24785191.
  7. ^ Pates, Stephen; Wolfe, Joanna M.; Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Daley, Allison C.; Ortega-Hernández, Javier (2022-02-09). "New opabiniid diversifies the weirdest wonders of the euarthropod stem group". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 289 (1968). doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.2093. PMC 8826304. PMID 35135344.


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