Clam shrimp

Clam shrimp
Temporal range: Devonian–Recent
California clam shrimp, Cyzicus californicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Branchiopoda
Subclass: Phyllopoda
Superorder: Diplostraca
Orders of clam shrimp
  • Cyclestherida Sars, 1899
  • Laevicaudata Linder, 1945
  • Spinicaudata Linder, 1945

Clam shrimp are a group of bivalved branchiopod crustaceans that resemble the unrelated bivalved molluscs.[1] They are extant and also known from the fossil record, from at least the Devonian period and perhaps before.[2] They were originally classified in the former order Conchostraca, which later proved to be paraphyletic, because water fleas are nested within clam shrimps. Clam shrimp are now divided into three orders, Cyclestherida, Laevicaudata, and Spinicaudata, in addition to the fossil family Leaiidae.[3][4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Webb1979 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Woolfe1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference VanDamme2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference worms was invoked but never defined (see the help page).