Another Cambrian critter: a euthycarcinoid

Euthycarcinoids are an obscure group of arthropods that I confess I'd never heard of until I saw this article by Vaccari et al.. They are interesting because 1) their phylogenetic relationships have been ambiguous, which can be a sign that they may represent something transitional (or, as an alternative, something degenerate), 2) there is trace fossil evidence that suggests that this group may have been one of the early leaders in the transition to terrestrial life, and 3) the authors have just found the oldest fossils of members of this group, pushing back the record of their existence to the late Cambrian. Since I can't really say that I know much about these guys, I'll let the abstract speak for itself and show you a picture of the new euthycarcinoid species, Apankura machu.

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