Lepidocaris Temporal range:
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Artist's restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Branchiopoda |
Order: | †Lipostraca Scourfield, 1926 |
Family: | †Lepidocarididae Scourfield, 1926 |
Genus: | †Lepidocaris Scourfield, 1926 |
Species: | †L. rhyniensis
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Binomial name | |
†Lepidocaris rhyniensis Scourfield, 1926
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Lepidocaris rhyniensis is an extinct species of crustacean. It is the only species known from the order Lipostraca, and is the only abundant animal in the Pragian-aged Rhynie chert deposits. It resembles modern Anostraca, to which it is probably closely related, although its relationships to other orders remain unclear. The body is 3 mm (0.12 in) long, with 23 body segments and 19 pairs of appendages, but no carapace. It occurred chiefly among charophytes, probably in alkaline temporary pools.