Occacaris

Occacaris Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3–Mid Cambrian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	†Megacheira
Order:	†
Family:	†
Genus:	†Occacaris Hou, 1999
Species:	†O. oviformis
Binomial name
†Occacaris oviformis Hou, 1999

Occacaris oviformis is an extinct nektonic predatory arthropod from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale Lagerstätte. It bears a superficial resemblance to the Cambrian arthropod, Canadaspis, though, was much smaller, and had a pair of "great appendages", with which it may have grasped prey.

It had a bivalved carapace that covered most of its body, leaving only the last two tergites of its trunk, with the telson jutting out of the posterior end of the carapace, and the eyes, antennae, and great appendages jutting out of the anterior end. The spines of the great appendages are paired, setting it apart from its relatives, , and Forfexicaris valida.

See also[]

• Arthropod
• Cambrian explosion
• Chengjiang biota
  • List of Chengjiang Biota species by phylum

References[]

• Xian-Guang Hou, The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life. (Blackwell, 2004)

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