''Rehbachiella'' is a genus of Cambrian crustacean comprising the only species ''Rehbachiella kinnekullensis''. It is a possible

branchiopod Branchiopoda, from Ancient Greek βράγχια (''bránkhia''), meaning "gill", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca, the Devonian ...

from the

Orsten The Orsten fauna are fossilized organisms preserved in the Orsten lagerstätte of Cambrian (Late Miaolingian to Furongian) rocks, notably at Kinnekulle and on the island of Öland, all in Sweden. The initial site, discovered in 1975 by Klaus M� ...

of Sweden.

Description

''Rehbachiella'' is roughly 1.7 mm long, with three pairs of cephalic appendages with curved spines pointing towards the mouth and eight to nine pairs of postmandibular appendages roughly identical to each other except for size and exopod length, together forming a filter apparatus. Unusually, ''Rehbachiella'' had over 30 larval stages and the most developed specimens found are still seemingly immature. Its thin carapace covers all limb-bearing segments, however there are five limbless segments extending past it, the most posterior bearing a furca alongside two protrusions that resemble undeveloped appendages. ''Rehbachiella'' has two compound eyes similar to its larval stages, as well as a large labrum. As many of its traits resemble those of Branchiopoda, it is tentatively placed as a stem-group branchiopod and may be a member of stem-

Anostraca Anostraca is one of the four orders of crustaceans in the class Branchiopoda; its members are referred to as fairy shrimp. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, and they have even been found in deserts, ice-covered m ...

alongside ''

Lepidocaris ''Lepidocaris rhyniensis'' is an extinct species of crustacean. It is the only species known from the order Lipostraca, and is the only abundant animal in the Pragian-aged Rhynie chert deposits. It resembles modern Anostraca, to which it is proba ...

''.

Etymology

''Rehbachiella'' is named in honour of Mrs. Helga Rehbach-Lenz, who helped with the most difficult preparation. Its specific name ''kinnekullensis'' comes from the fact the original fossils were found at Kinnekulle.

Distribution

''Rehbachiella'' is known from over 130 specimens of varying growth stages, most from Kinnekulle.

References

{{taxonbar, from1=Q125022902 Cambrian Europe Prehistoric crustacean genera Cambrian crustaceans Branchiopoda Fossil taxa described in 1983