Megacheira

Megacheira
Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3–Katian [1] Possible Silurian and Devonian records
Alalcomenaeus (top left), Fortiforceps (top right), Haikoucaris (middle), Leanchoilia (bottom left) and Yohoia (bottom right).
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: †Megacheira
Hou and Bergström, 1997
Groups

See text

Megacheira ("great hands", also historically great appendage arthropods) is an extinct class of predatory arthropods defined by their possession of spined "great appendages".[2] Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates.[3][4] The homology of the great appendages to the cephalic appendages of other arthropods is also controversial. Uncontested members of the group were present in marine environments worldwide from the lower Cambrian to the upper Ordovician.

  1. ^ Parry, Luke A.; Briggs, Derek E.G.; Ran, Ruixin; O'Flynn, Robert J.; Mai, Huijian; Clark, Elizabeth G.; Liu, Yu (29 October 2024). "A pyritized Ordovician leanchoiliid arthropod". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.013.
  2. ^ Stein, Martin (March 2010) [26 February 2010]. "A new arthropod from the Early Cambrian of North Greenland, with a 'great appendage'-like antennula". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 158 (3): 477–500. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00562.x.
  3. ^ Aria, Cédric (26 April 2022). "The origin and early evolution of arthropods". Biological Reviews. 97 (5): 1786–1809. doi:10.1111/brv.12864. ISSN 1464-7931. PMID 35475316. S2CID 243269510. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  4. ^ Liu, Cong; Fu, Dongjing; Wu, Yu; Zhang, Xingliang (July 2024). "Cambrian euarthropod Urokodia aequalis sheds light on the origin of Artiopoda body plan". iScience. 27 (8): 110443. Bibcode:2024iSci...27k0443L. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.110443. PMC 11325232. PMID 39148713.