Myodocopa

Myodocopida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Ostracoda
Subclass:	Myodocopa Sars, 1866
Orders
Halocyprida Dana, 1853 Myodocopida Sars, 1866

Traditionally, the Myodocopa and Podocopa have been classified as subclasses within the class Ostracoda,^[1] although there is some question about how closely related the two groups actually are. The Myodocopa are defined by possession of a poorly-calcified carapace, and 8–9 articles in the exopod of the second antenna.^[2] The ventral margin of the carapace is not concave, and the valves do not overlap to a great extent.^[3]

Although the carapace of myodocopans is poorly-calcified, some fossils are known for the group. (In contrast, thousands of fossil species are named for the Podocopa). Of particular interest are those fossils for which the internal body parts (and not just the carapace) are preserved. This provides a lot more information about the likely relatives to the fossil taxa, including relatives still alive today. Two recent fossils of much interest have been found from Silurian deposits (dated at 425 million years ago). These fossils have well preserved internal body parts.^[4][5]

References

Crustaceans portal

1. ^ Joel W. Martin & George E. Davis (2001) (PDF). An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. pp. 1–132. http://atiniui.nhm.org/pdfs/3839/3839.pdf. 
2. ^ Louis S. Kornicker (1993). Antarctic and Subantarctic Myodocopina (Ostracoda). Synopses of the Antarctic Benthos. Königstein, Germany: Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN 9783874293495. 
3. ^ D. J. Horne, A. C. Cohen & K. Martens (2002). "Taxonomy, morphhology and biology of Quaternary and living Ostracoda". In J. Holmes & A. Chivas. The Ostracoda: Applications in Quaternary Research. AGV Geophysical Monograph Series. 131. American Geophysical Union. pp. 5–36. ISBN 0-87590-990-6. 
4. ^ David J. Siveter, Mark D. Sutton, Derek E. G. Briggs & Derek J. Siveter (2003). "An ostracode crustacean with soft parts from the Lower Silurian". Science 302 (5651): 1749–1751. Bibcode 2003Sci...302.1749S. doi:10.1126/science.1091376. PMID 14657495. 
5. ^ David J. Siveter, Derek J. Siveter, Mark D. Sutton & Derek E. G. Briggs (2007). "Brood care in a Silurian ostracod". Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274: 465–469. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3756. PMC 1766388. PMID 17476765. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1766388.