Buccaspinea

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Buccaspinea
Temporal range: Drumian
Fossil material of Buccaspinea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Dinocaridida
Order: Radiodonta
Family: Hurdiidae
Genus: Buccaspinea
Pates et al, 2021
Species:
B. cooperi
Binomial name
Buccaspinea cooperi
Pates et al, 2021

Buccaspinea is an extinct genus of Cambrian peytoiid radiodont from the Marjum Formation, known from frontal appendages and a nearly complete albeit headless specimen with a preserved oral cone. [1] Buccaspinea was described in January 2021, being the second-most recent hurdiid genus to be described.

Etymology[edit]

Buccaspinea means "thorn mouth", referring to the large hooked spines on its oral cone. The specific name, cooperi honours Jason Cooper, the discoverer of the specimen.[1]

Description[edit]

Buccaspinea is roughly 10 centimetres long and has large, long-spined appendages seemingly used for capturing benthic prey, as they are not branched for sifting sediment or filter-feeding. Buccaspinea appears to be closely related to Hurdia and Peytoia, sharing many characters with them, for example a lack of inner teeth, weak posterior tapering and many flap-bearing segments. Unusually, it does not seem to have dorsal flaps, a trait unique to it and a few other hurdiids, such as Cambroraster.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Pates, Stephen; Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Daley, Allison C.; Kier, Carlo; Bonino, Enrico; Ortega-Hernández, Javier (19 January 2021). "The diverse radiodont fauna from the Marjum Formation of Utah, USA (Cambrian: Drumian)". Palaeontology and Evolutionary Science. 9: e10509. doi:10.7717/peerj.10509. PMC 7821760. PMID 33552709.
  2. ^ Moysiuk, Joe; Jean-Bernard, Caron (31 July 2019). "A new hurdiid radiodont from the Burgess Shale evinces the exploitation of Cambrian infaunal food sources". The Royal Society Publishing. 286 (1908). doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.1079. PMC 6710600. PMID 31362637.