Description: Strabops thatcheri fossil aglaspidid from the Cambrian of Missouri, USA (YPM 9001, Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, Connecticut, USA). (centimeter scale at right) Aglaspidids are a rare group of fossil arthropods known only from the Cambrian and Ordovician. They had a phosphatic exoskeleton consisting of a head (cephalon), a multisegmented trunk, and a tailspine. The fossil shown above is the holotype specimen of Strabops thatcheri, which is the type species of Strabops, which is the type genus of Family Strabopidae. The high-level taxonomy of aglaspidids has been debated by paleontologists. The classification given below is from Hou & Bergstrom (1997). Classification: Animalia, Arthropoda, Schizoramia, Lamellipedia, Artiopoda, Aglaspidida, Strabopida, Strabopidae Stratigraphy: Potosi Dolomite, Upper Cambrian Locality: Flat River, Missouri, USA Reference cited: Hou & Bergstrom (1997) - Arthropoda from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils & Strata 45. 116 pp. Date: 13 March 2015, 01:05. Source:
Strabops thatcheri fossil aglaspidid (Potosi Dolomite, Upper Cambrian; Flat River, Missouri, USA). Author:
James St. John.
