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.^[1]

Fengzhengia Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3 PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Diagrammatic reconstruction
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Genus:	†Fengzhengia O'Flynn et al., 2022
Species:	†F. mamingae
Binomial name
†Fengzhengia mamingae O'Flynn et al., 2022

Cladogram after O’Flynn et al, 2023:^[2]

Total group Arthropoda

"Gilled lobopodians" (Pambdelurion, Kerygmachela) Opabinia Radiodonta (e.g Anomalocaris) Deuteropoda Kylinxia Fengzhengia Kiisortoqia Bushizheia Megacheira Habeliida Mollisonia Chelicerata (horseshoe crabs, sea spiders, arachnids, etc) "Great appendage bivalved forms" (Occacaris, Forfexicaris) Isoxyida Artiopoda (including Trilobita) Mandibulata Fuxianhuiida Myriapoda (millipedes, centipedes, etc) Hymenocarina Pancrustacea (crustaceans, insects, etc)

See also

• Erratus a basal deuteropodan arthropod from the Cambrian of China