''Thelxiope'' is a genus of
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ag ...
and
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. ...
arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
. Four named species are known, the type species ''T. palaeothalassia'' is known from the
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 ...
, Canada ''T. holmani'' is from the
Wheeler Shale
The Wheeler Shale (named by Charles Walcott) is a Cambrian ( 507 Ma) fossil locality world-famous
for prolific agnostid and '' Elrathia kingii'' trilobite remains (even though many areas are barren of fossils)
and represents a Konzen ...
of Utah, ''Thelxiope tangi'' from the
Linyi Lagerstätte
Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo to ...
of
Shandong, China, and ''T. spinosa'', which is known from both the
Linyi Lagerstätte
Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo to ...
and the Wheeler Shale. An indeterminate species is also known from the Ordovician (
Floian
The Floian is the second stage of the Ordovician Period. It succeeds the Tremadocian with which it forms the Lower Ordovician epoch. It precedes the Dapingian Stage of the Middle Ordovician. The Floian extended from to million years ago. The ...
)
Fezouata Formation
The Fezouata Formation or Fezouata Shale is a geological formation in Morocco which dates to the Early Ordovician. in Morocco.
It is a member of Mollisoniida, alongside close relatives ''
Mollisonia,
Corcorania'' and ''
Urokodia
''Urokodia aequalis'' is an extinct genus of arthropod from the early Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian last ...
.'' They are suggested to be stem-
chelicerates
The subphylum Chelicerata (from New Latin, , ) constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. It contains the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids (including harvestmen, scorpions, spiders, solifuges, ticks, and mite ...
.
References
Burgess Shale fossils
Prehistoric arthropod genera
{{paleo-arthropod-stub
Cambrian genus extinctions