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Journal of Paleontology

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New Phylogenetic Insights into the Cambrian Radiation of Arachnomorph Arthropods

¹ Department of Geology, 1475 Jayhawk Boulevard, 120 Lindley Hall
² Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence 66045-7613, <jrhendri{at}ku.edu>, <blieber{at}ku.edu>

The Cambrian fossil record of the Arachnomorpha is rich and diverse and includes trilobites, chelicerates, and many taxa known from various soft-bodied faunas including the Burgess Shale and the Chengjiang. Exceptionally well-preserved arthropod fossils are also known from Middle Cambrian strata in Utah. Recently, two new arachnomorphs (Dicranocaris Briggs, Lieberman, Hendricks, Halgedahl, and Jarrard, 2008 and Nettapezoura Briggs, Lieberman, Hendricks, Halgedahl, and Jarrard, 2008) were described from the Wheeler and Marjum formations of Utah. Cladistic analysis is undertaken to investigate arachnomorph relationships in light of these two new genera. The character matrix of Edgecombe and Ramsköld (1999) serves as the foundation for this study, augmented by new characters and taxa. The results of our cladistic analysis suggest that at least three distinct arachnomorph clades had diverged by the Middle Cambrian, and perhaps much earlier; the Utah genera can be referred to groups within one of these clades.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D.-G. Shu, S. Conway Morris, Z.-F. Zhang, and J. Han The earliest history of the deuterostomes: the importance of the Chengjiang Fossil-Lagerstatte Proc R Soc B, May 13, 2009; (2009) rspb.2009.0646v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]