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Alalcomenaeus Great Appendage Cambrian Arthropod from Maotianshan Shales
Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Chelicerata, Class Megacheira, Family Alalcomeneidae or, by some authors, Phylum Arthropoda, Class Dinocaridida, Order Radiodonta, Family Opabiniidae Geological Time: Early Cambrian (~525 million years ago)Size: Fossil is 26 mm long Fossil Site: Chengjiang Maotianshan Shales, Qiongzhusi Section, Yu'anshan Member, Heilinpu Formation, Maotianshan Hill, Yuxi, Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China
Recent research has placed this early arthropod with Subphylum Chelicerata along with spiders, scorpions, ticks, horseshoe crabs, and eurypterids. Alalcomenaeus had three eyes, with two on stalks, biramous legs, 11 segments, exoskeleton, and a telson like a paddle - learn more about this fossil and the Maotianshan Shales at the Virtual Fossil Museum.
