Parapaleomerus

Parapaleomerus
Temporal range: Lower Cambrian
Restoration of P. sinensis without eyes, 11th segment and appendages omitted. Telson hypothetical.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
(unranked):
Arachnomorpha
Order:
†Strabopida
Family:
†Strabopidae
Genus:
†Parapaleomerus

Hou et al., 1999
Type species
†Parapaleomerus sinensis
Hou et al., 1999

Parapaleomerus is a genus of strabopid of small size found in Chengjiang biota, China. It contains one species, P. sinensis. Unlike the other members of Strabopida, Parapaleomerus lacks dorsal eyes and only possesses ten trunk tergites. The telson has been described as trapezoidal. All the trunk tergites are straight and increasingly curve backwards abaxially from T4–10.[1] Specimens of Parapaleomerus sinesis are typically dorsoventrally compressed. The exoskeleton of P. sinensis has a semi-elliptical head shield that lacks any indication of the presence of dorsal eyes. The largest specimen described is recorded as 9.2 cm long, with a maximum width of 9 cm.[2]

  1. ^ Rudy Lerosey-Aubril (2014). "Notchia weugi gen. et sp. nov.: A new short-headed arthropod from the Weeks Formation Konservat-Lagerstatte (Cambrian; Utah)". Geological Magazine. 152 (2): 351–357. doi:10.1017/S0016756814000375. S2CID 83671216.
  2. ^ Xian-guang, Hou; Siveter, David J.; Siveter, Derek J.; Aldridge, Richard J.; Pei-Yun, Cong; Gabbott, Sarah E.; Xiao-Ya, Ma; Purnell, Mark A.; Williams, Mark (2017). The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life (2 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118896310.