Fengzhengia
Fengzhengia is an extinct genus of arthropod known from a single species, Fengzhengia mamingae from the Cambrian aged Chengjiang Biota of Yunnan, China. It is thought to be a basal arthropod, as one of the most basal members of Deuteropoda. Like other basal deuteropods, Fengzhengia has an upward curling pair of "frontal appendages" with at least 6 segments which bear endites, contrasting with the downward curving pair of frontal appendages possessed by radiodonts. The head has a pair of stalked eyes. The trunk had 15 tergites the first nine of which had upward facing spines, with the trunk terminating with a tail fan. The trunk seemingly had pairs of biramous limbs, with paddle-shaped exopods. It is thought to have been nektobenthic (swimming just above the sediment), and either a scavenger or a predator. A close relationship with the genus Kylinxia has been suggested.
Fengzhengia Temporal range: | |
---|---|
Diagrammatic reconstruction | |
Life restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Genus: | †Fengzhengia O'Flynn et al., 2022 |
Species: | †F. mamingae |
Binomial name | |
†Fengzhengia mamingae O'Flynn et al., 2022 | |