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Onychodictyon
Extinct genus of lobopodians From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Onychodictyon is a genus of extinct lobopodian known from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Maotianshan Shales in the Yunnan Province in China.[1] It was characterized by a stout body covered by fleshy papillae and pairs of sclerotized plates with spines,[2][1][3] representing part of the diverse "armoured lobopodians" alongside similar forms such as Microdictyon and Hallucigenia.[1]
The maximum length of Onychodictyon is 70 mm (2.8 in).[1] It has a resemblance to Microdictyon (net-like sclerite ornament)[4] but also Aysheaia and tardigrades (basally-fused terminal leg pairs).[5] Each leg has a pair of curved claws that are thought to have aided Onychodictyon in climbing onto other organisms.[6] By having a unique anterior end structure, Onychodictyon may have been a deposit feeder which means that they would scavenge for organic material from the seafloor.[1] Onychodictyon sclerites appear to have molted with some specimens exhibiting perfectly conjoined plates from successive molts.[7]
Onychodictyon is represented by two species: O. ferox which has a pair of simple eyes and feathery antenniform appendages on its head;[3] and O. gracilis which has a blunt front end without evidence of any appendages.[1]
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References
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