''Tegopelte gigas'' (from the Greek , "tile", and , "leather-shield", referring to the shape of the dorsal body covering; gigas – from the Greek , "giant", due to the huge size of the animalTegopelte gigas. A giant trilobite-like arthropod
The Burgess Shale.) is a species of large soft-bodied

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 ...

known from two specimens found in the

Middle Cambrian Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (di ...

Burgess Shale The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest fos ...

of British Columbia, Canada.

Description

''Tegopelte'' was a large arthropod, reaching a body length of and width of . The body was covered in a large undivided dorsal shield that was unmineralised. On the head a pair of tear-shaped eyes were present on the underside of the shield, along with a pair of antennae. The body had 33 pairs of

biramous The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip, ...

(two branched) limbs, with the

endopod The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip, : ...

(lower leg-like branch) functioning as the walking limbs, though the ones at the far back of the body are likely too small to have been useful for walking. The endopods had at least four segments/

podomere The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip, : ...

s. The

exopod The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip (a ...

s (upper branch) of the limbs pairs bore elongated filament-like structures, and probably functioned as gills. Within the body were gut diverticulae used to digest food.

Ecology

''Tegopelte'' is suggested to have been a seafloor dwelling (

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

) animal that was either a predator or a scavenger.

Trackway Historic roads (or historic trails in the US and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient track ...

s probably produced by ''Tegopelte'' are known from the Kicking Horse Shale, stratigraphically below its

body fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved i ...

occurrences. These suggest that it had the ability to skim along the seafloor at a brisk pace and could perform tight turns, though the tracks suggest that they also at times more slowly walked across the seafloor.

Taxonomy

Although historically classified as a true trilobite, is no longer thought to be part of this group. It is currently considered a member of the clade

Conciliterga Conciliterga is an extinct order of artiopod arthropods, exclusively known from the Middle Cambrian. They are placed within the clade Trilobitomorpha, which contains the trilobites and their closest relatives. Conciliterga is united by their pa ...

within

Trilobitomorpha Artiopoda is a clade of extinct arthropods that includes trilobites and their close relatives. It was erected by Hou and Bergström in 1997 to encompass a wide diversity of arthropods that would traditionally have been assigned to the Trilobitomor ...

, a group which contains trilobites and their close relatives. After Jiao et al. 2021.

References

External links

* Burgess Shale fossils Cambrian arthropods Artiopoda Cambrian genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1975 {{paleo-arthropod-stub

Description

Ecology

Taxonomy

See also

References

External links