Thylacares

Thylacares
Temporal range: Silurian
T. brandonensis reconstruction
assorted T. brandonensis fossils
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Thylacocephala
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Thylacares
Species:
T. brandonensis
Binomial name
Thylacares brandonensis
Haug et al., 2014

Thylacares is a genus of thylacocephalan containing only the single species Thylacares brandonensis.

Found in Silurian period strata from the Brandon Bridge Formation in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S., the species is distinguishable from other thylacocephalans by its smaller raptorial appendages and compound eyes. The body is fully encased in a bivalve shell, with only the eyes protruding on stalks. The species' trunk is composed of about 22 segments. It was once considered the oldest know thylacocephalan, before older specimens were found in Ordovician rocks.[1]

  1. ^ Haug, Carolin; Briggs, Derek E. G.; Mikulic, Donald G.; Kluessendorf, Joanne; Haug, Joachim T. (22 August 2014). "The implications of a Silurian and other thylacocephalan crustaceans for the functional morphology and systematic affinities of the group". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 14 (159). BioMed Central: 159. Bibcode:2014BMCEE..14..159H. doi:10.1186/s12862-014-0159-2. PMC 4448278. PMID 25927449.