Biology:Sarotrocercus
| Sarotrocercus | |
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| Reconstruction of Sarotrocercus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Missing taxonomy template (fix): | Incertae sedis/Arthropoda |
| Genus: | †Sarotrocercus |
| Species: | †S. oblitus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Sarotrocercus oblitus Whittington, 1981
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Sarotrocercus is a small Cambrian arthropod known from Burgess shale, reaching a centimetre or two in length (0.39–0.79 in).[1] Sarotrocercus is only known from 7 specimens.[2] It may lie in the arthropod crown group, and a recent study has revised some points of its original description.[2]
Morphology
Sarotrocercus had a head shield followed by a trunk of 10 or 11 segments and a telson featuring a series of spines on the end.[2] A pair of big eyes at the end of stalks ventrally emerged from the front of the head.[2] The head bore two pairs of sturdy appendages that are armed with rows of inner spines.[2] At least the anterior 9 trunk segments each possess a pair of appendages, which are only known by lobe-like exopods that are fringed with setae.[2]
Ecology
In the original description, Sarotrocercus had been interpreted as a pelagic, nektonic animal that swam freely on its back, moving perhaps through movements of the trunk appendages and the action of its long tail tuft.[3] This was mainly based on the rarity of the specimens, as the Burgess Shale contains few swimming organisms; the submarine landslides that buried organisms mainly smothered benthic and nektobenthic organisms.[3][4] However, based on the redescription by Haug et al. 2011, Sarotrocercus may had been benthic or at least swimming close to the seafloor, as the robust head appendages rather suggest a grasping or raking function.[2]
External links
- "Sarotrocercus oblita". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011. http://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/en/fossil-gallery/view-species.php?id=110.
References
- ↑ Briggs, D. E. G.; Erwin, D. H.; Collier, F. J. (1995), Fossils of the Burgess Shale, Washington: Smithsonian Inst Press, ISBN 1-56098-659-X, OCLC 231793738
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Haug, J.T.; Maas, A.; Haug, C.; Waloszek, D. (2011). "Sarotrocercus oblitus - Small arthropod with great impact on the understanding of arthropod evolution?". Bulletin of Geosciences: 725–7??. doi:10.3140/bull.geosci.1283.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Whittington, H.B. (1981). "Rare Arthropods from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences (The Royal Society) 292 (1060): 329–357. doi:10.1098/rstb.1981.0033. Bibcode: 1981RSPTB.292..329W.
- ↑ Gabbott, S.E.; Zalasiewicz, J.; Collins, D. (2008). "Sedimentation of the Phyllopod Bed within the Cambrian Burgess Shale Formation of British Columbia". Journal of the Geological Society 165 (1): 307–318. doi:10.1144/0016-76492007-023. Bibcode: 2008JGSoc.165..307G.
Wikidata ☰ Q3017283 entry
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