| Opabiniidae Temporal range: Middle Cambrian - Middle Ordovician,
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|---|---|
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| Opabinia (top) and Utaurora (bottom) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Stem group: | †Dinocaridida |
| Family: | †Opabiniidae Walcott, 1912 |
| Genera | |
Opabiniidae is an extinct family of marine stem-arthropods.[1] Its type and best-known genus is Opabinia. It also contains Utaurora, and Mieridduryn. Opabiniids closely resemble radiodonts, but their frontal appendages were basally fused into a proboscis. Opabiniids also distinguishable from radiodonts by setal blades covering at least part of the body flaps and serrated caudal rami.[2]
- ^ Tamisiea, Jack (8 February 2022). "One of Evolution's Oddest Creatures Finds a Fossilized Family Member - Opabinia, which swam the seas of Earth's Cambrian era some 500 million years ago, was not just a one hit wonder". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ Pates et al. 2022.