A spectacular discovery in China--a lobopodian from the Chengjiang fauna, Diania cactiformis, has added a new
dimension to the question of arthropod origins. Diania is heavily armored, with spiked
elements encasing the limbs, suggesting jointing and at least some incipient segmentation. The
trunk armor suggests a different sort of flexibility. It
is easy to imagine that the modern jointed arthropod carapace evolved from integumental armor, while integrating internal segmental features within the jointed skeletal
architecture. This illustration was developed as part of a
series of 3D reconstructions for Doug Erwin and Jim Valentine's The Cambrian Explosion: The Construction of Animal Biodiversity (Roberts & Company Publishers 2013).
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keywords (defined):
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keywords (additional): |
reconstructions, Cambrian, Burgess Shale, Diania, lobopodians |
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