Lyrarapax

Lyrarapax
Temporal range: Cambrian Period, 520 Ma
↓
Comparison of the frontal appendages of the two species
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: †Radiodonta
Clade: †Amplectobeluidae
Genus: †Lyrarapax
Cong et al., 2014[1]
Type species
Lyrarapax unguispinus
Cong et al., 2014
Species
  • L. unguispinus Cong et al., 2014[1]
  • L. trilobus Cong et al., 2016 [2]

Lyrarapax is a radiodont genus of the family Amplectobeluidae that lived in the early Cambrian period 520 million years ago. Its neural tissue indicates that the radiodont frontal appendage is protocerebral, resolving parts of the arthropod head problem and showing that the frontal appendage is homologous to the antennae of Onychophorans and labrum of euarthropods.[1] Its fossilized remains were found in Yunnan in southwestern China. A second species was described in 2016, differing principally in the morphology of its frontal appendages.[2] It is a small animal, with L. unguispinus and L. trilobus measuring up to 8.3 cm (3.3 in) and 3.9 cm (1.5 in) in body length respectively.[3]

  1. ^ a b c Peiyun Cong; Xiaoya Ma; Xianguang Hou; Gregory D. Edgecombe; Nicholas J. Strausfeld (2014). "Brain structure resolves the segmental affinity of anomalocaridid appendages". Nature. 513 (7519): 538–42. Bibcode:2014Natur.513..538C. doi:10.1038/nature13486. PMID 25043032. S2CID 4451239.
  2. ^ a b Cong, Peiyun; Daley, Allison C.; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Hou, Xianguang; Chen, Ailin (2016). "Morphology of the radiodontan Lyrarapax from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota". Journal of Paleontology. 90 (4): 663–671. doi:10.1017/jpa.2016.67. S2CID 88742430.
  3. ^ Lerosey-Aubril R, Pates S (September 2018). "New suspension-feeding radiodont suggests evolution of microplanktivory in Cambrian macronekton". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 3774. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.3774L. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06229-7. PMC 6138677. PMID 30218075. Dryad Data