''Megadictyon'' is a genus of

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 Ordov ...

lobopodian Lobopodians are members of the informal group Lobopodia (), or the formally erected phylum Lobopoda Cavalier-Smith (1998). They are panarthropods with stubby legs called lobopods, a term which may also be used as a common name of this group as w ...

with similarities to ''

Jianshanopodia ''Jianshanopodia ''is a monotypic genus of Cambrian lobopodian, discovered from Maotianshan Shales of Yunnan, China. Description ''Jianshanopodia'' resemble the closely-related siberiid ''Megadictyon''. The head possess a pair of frontal, g ...

'' and '' Siberion''. The name of the genus is occasionally mis-spelt as ''Magadictyon''.

Description

''Megadictyon'' is a large lobopodian, with a body length (excluding appendages) possibly up to 20 centimeters in total. The head has a pair of robust frontal appendages associated with rows of spines and terminal claws. Located on the underside of the head is a

radiodont Radiodonta is an extinct order of stem-group arthropods that was successful worldwide during the Cambrian period. Radiodonts are distinguished by their distinctive frontal appendages, which are morphologically diverse and were used for a variety ...

-like mouthpart formed by multiple layers of plates and tooth-like structures. The trunk is wide and annulated, with a pair of well-developed lobopodous limbs on each body segment. Only 8 segment/limb pairs are countable in the incomplete fossil materials which are lacking the posterior region, so it may have had more (possibly up to 11 to 13) in nature. It also has pairs of digestive glands similar to those of basal

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 ...

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic position of ''Megadictyon'' according to Pates ''et al''. (2022).

References

Lobopodia Prehistoric protostome genera {{paleo-protostome-stub