Emucaris
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''Emucaris fava'' is an
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of soft-shelled
trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...
-like
arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
of the
nektaspid Nektaspida (also called Naraoiida, Nektaspia and Nectaspida) is an extinct order of non- mineralised artiopodan arthropods. They are known from the lower-Cambrian to the upper Silurian. Originally classified as trilobites, which they superficiall ...
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...
from the
Lower Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordovici ...
(Cambrian Stage 4) of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
. It is the only species classified under the
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Emucaris''.


Etymology

The generic name is derived from the Emu Bay Shale, the deposit where the species was collected, and the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word ' meaning shrimp. The specific name ''fava'' is from the Latin word for
honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...
, for the ornamentation on its pygidial axis.


Description

The outline of the
dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...
exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...
of ''E. fava'' is pointed inverted egg-shaped, between and long and about times as long as wide. The axis is up to 15% of the width of the body and only slightly raised. The semi-circular headshield (or
cephalon Cephalon, Inc. was an American biopharmaceutical company co-founded in 1987 by pharmacologist Frank Baldino Jr., Frank Baldino, Jr., neuroscientist Michael Lewis, and organic chemist James C. Kauer—all three former scientists with the DuPont ...
) is about half as long as the tailshield (
pygidium The pygidium (: pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is compos ...
), and in between them four short
thoracic The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main ...
body segments (
somite The somites (outdated term: primitive segments) are a set of bilaterally paired blocks of paraxial mesoderm that form in the embryogenesis, embryonic stage of somitogenesis, along the head-to-tail axis in segmentation (biology), segmented animals. ...
s). When disregarding the border, the pygidium of ''Emucaris'' is a triangle with a rounded termination, carrying a spine that ends at the outer rim of the border. There is no discernible segmentation visible. The axis in ''Emucaris'' is about one fifth of the pygidium and has a pattern of polygons of approximately equal area. The border of the cephalon is inconspicuous, and the border of the pygidium is longer than the somites. This border lacks ornamentation.


Differences from ''Kangacaris''

'' Kangacaris'' has only three thorax segments. The exoskeletal outline of ''Kangacaris'' is an inverted egg-shape. The axis of the pygidium of ''Kangacaris'' is a third of the width of the body and clearly segmented. The axis of the pygidium ''Kangacaris'' lacks a terminal spine. The pygidial border of ''Kangacaris'' has 17 equally spaced ridges perpendicular to the edge of the border.


Distribution

Fossils of ''E. fava'' were collected from the
Emu Bay Shale The Emu Bay Shale is a Formation (stratigraphy), geological formation in Emu Bay, South Australia, containing a major Konservat-Lagerstätte (fossil beds with soft tissue preservation). It is one of two in the world containing Redlichiidan trilob ...
of
Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...
, South Australia.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5374863 Nektaspida Prehistoric arthropod genera Prehistoric arthropods of Australia Emu Bay Shale