Tokummia katalepsis, paratype, ROMIP 63826
Hymenocarines were early arthropods with bivalved carapaces and mandibles, forming the bulk of the first mandibulates (represented today by myriapods, crustaceans and insects) (Aria & Caron 2017; Vannier et al. 2018). Tokummia was a close relative of Branchiocaris, both grouped within the eponymous family Protocarididae Miller, 1889—one of the oldest formal taxa from the Burgess Shale. The relationship of Protocarididae within hymenocarines, as well as the relative placement of hymenocarines within early mandibulates is still under investigation (Aria 2022; Izquierdo-López & Caron 2022).
Tokummia — from Tokumm Creek, a river of the Kootenay area, in British Columbia, running through Marble Canyon, near the outcrop where the fossil was first found.
katalapsis — from the Greek, meaning “seizing, grasping,” by reference to the well-developed pincers of the animal.
Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.
Other deposits: none.
The Marble Canyon and Tokumm Creek areas of the Burgess Shale, British Columbia.
Tokummia was discovered during the original excavation of the Marble Canyon locality in 2012, along Yawunik and other taxa characteristic of this area. Additional specimens were later discovered during quarrying operations and along Tokumm Creek. Tokummia’s description was published in 2017: Tokummia’s size and quality of preservation helped identify mandibles and other diagnostic traits of mandibulates. Mandibles were also identified in Branchiocaris in the same study. This study partially rehabilitated original interpretations by Derek Briggs recognizing mandibulate affinities of Cambrian bivalved arthropods (hymenocarines) (Briggs 1992) but were not without their issues, notably that of the presence of an intercalary segment (e.g. Edgecombe 2017). However, research on hymenocarines has since been supportive of the mandibulate affinity of these arthropods (Vannier et al. 2018; Izquierdo-López & Caron 2022). Tokummia therefore remains central to our modern understanding of early arthropod evolution as a whole (Aria 2022).
Like other protocaridids, Tokummia’s long, tubular, multisegmented body is largely enclosed in a broad bivalved carapace with ample, lobate corners. Small processes are present medially at the front and rear of both valves. Eyes are very reduced or absent. The very front of the animal bears a bilobed organ covered by triangular sclerite. A pair of short, stout, multisegmented antennules are the most anterior appendages. The next pair of appendages are large, round mandibles, followed by modified appendages identified as maxillules and maxillae. The first pair of thoracic limbs are very large pincers projecting at the front of the animal, and therefore called maxillipeds. Trunk limbs are composed of well-developed walking legs ending in strong claws, and of lobate flaps that get much larger starting with trunk limb pair 9. There is a total of about 50 limb pairs in the trunk, one for each segment, which gradually decrease in size towards the back. Some tergites are fused at the back of the animal, forming a plate, and the tailpiece is a pair of caudal rami, typical of mandibulates.
The original description was based on 21 specimens (Aria & Caron 2017), but this count has so far doubled (Nanglu et al. 2020). Tokummia is a signature taxon of both the Marble Canyon quarry and the Tokumm sites.
The combination of large pincers and strong walking appendages in Tokummia suggests it was a nektobenthic predator. However, as in Branchiocaris and Protocaris, the absence of distinct eyes in the fossils, implying they were either very reduced or absent, indicates that the predatory lifestyle of Tokummia and other Protocarididae had its own specificity. Protocaridids either relied more heavily on their other sensory organs or were perhaps more passive predators.