Forfexicaris valida

Taxobox
name = "Forfexicaris valida"


fossil_range = Lower Cambrian
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Megacheira†
ordo = Pectocaridida
familia = Forfexicarididae
genus = "Forfexficaris"
species = "F. valida"

"Forfexicaris valida" was an egg-shaped nektonic predatory arthropod from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale Lagerstätte about 1.5 centimetres long. This creature bears a superficial resemblance to ostracod crustaceans, though, "F. valida" is not considered to be an ostracod, nor even a crustacean due to its leg morphology. Like its relative, "Occacaris oviformis", "F. valida" also had a pair of "great appendages," though, it did not have paired spines. Unlike "O. oviformis", "F. valida"'s trunk did not extend beyond its carapace.

References

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