The Burgess Shale

Life Habits: Mobile

Zacanthoides romingeri

Zacanthoides romingeri (figure 3) illustrated by Rominger (1887) as Embolimus spinosa.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Trilobita (Order: Corynexochida)
Species name: Zacanthoides romingeri
Remarks:

Trilobites are extinct euarthropods, probably stem lineage representatives of the Mandibulata, which includes crustaceans, myriapods, and hexapods (Scholtz and Edgecombe, 2006).

Described by: Rominger
Description date: 1887
Etymology:

Zacanthoides – probably from the Greek z(a), “very,” and akanthion, “thistle” or “porcupine” or “hedgehog,” and oides, “resembling;” thus, very thistle- or porcupine-like.

romingeri – after Carl Rominger, a Michigan paleontologist who in 1887 published the first descriptions of trilobites from Mount Stephen.

Type Specimens: Type status under review – UMMP 4871 (2 specimens), University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: Zacanthoides sexdentatus, Z. submuticus, Z. longipygus, Z. planifrons, Z. divergens, all from older and younger Middle Cambrian rocks on Mount Stephen, Mount Odaray, and Park Mountain (Rasetti, 1951).

Other deposits: other species elsewhere in North America.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

In 1887 Carl Rominger published an engraving of a nearly complete and markedly spiny trilobite and named it Embolimus spinosa. In 1908 Charles Walcott introduced the combination Zacanthoides spinosus for the Mount Stephen species and for a similar trilobite from Nevada. The next change came in 1942, when Charles Resser at the United States National Museum asserted that the Mount Stephen species was sufficiently distinct that it required a new name. Resser chose to honour the man who first formally described many of the common Mount Stephen trilobites, and Zacanthoides romingeri remains the combination in use today.

Description:

Morphology:

Hard parts: adult dorsal exoskeletons can reach up to 6 cm in length, tapering back from a large crescentic cephalon through a thorax of nine segments, to a relatively small rounded-triangular pygidium with long marginal spines.

The wide free cheeks bear strong genal spines; short, thorn-like intragenal spines mark the posterior corners of the fixed cheeks. The glabella is long and narrow, slightly expanded forwards. There are four pairs of lateral glabellar furrows; the anterior two pairs are weaker and angled to the front, the stronger posterior two are angled back. Very long narrow eyes that bow strongly outward are located far back on the cephalon. The occipital ring extends rearward into a strong, broad-based spine. Long, blade-shaped terminal spines on the wide pleurae curve progressively more backwards. A slender needle-like spine arises from the axial ring of the eighth thoracic segment. There are four pygidial axial rings; five pairs of marginal spines, each successively shorter, are directed rearwards and extend beyond the tip of the pygidium.

Unmineralized anatomy: not known.

Abundance:

Zacanthoides romingeri is moderately abundant at the Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds but absent from Fossil Ridge. Complete trilobites with the free cheeks in place are very scarce, and this species is mostly found as disarticulated sclerites. Its distinctive characteristics, however, usually allow even isolated pieces to be readily identified.

Maximum Size:
60 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Zacanthoides romingeri adults very likely walked along the sea bed. The overall spinosity of this species may have served as a deterrent to predators, or possibly helped to break up the visual outline of the animal, making it harder to see on the sea floor (Rudkin, 1996).

References:

RASETTI, F. 1951. Middle Cambrian stratigraphy and faunas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 116 (5): 1-277.

RESSER, C. E. 1942. Fifth contribution to nomenclature of Cambrian trilobites. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 101 (15): 1-58.

ROMINGER, C. 1887. Description of primordial fossils from Mount Stephens, N. W. Territory of Canada. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1887: 12-19.

RUDKIN, D. M. 1996. The Trilobite Beds of Mount Stephen, Yoho National Park, p. 59-68. In R. Ludvigsen (ed.), Life in Stone – A Natural History of British Columbia’s Fossils. UBC Press, Vancouver.

RUDKIN, D. M. 2009. The Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds, p. 90-102. In J.-B. Caron and D. Rudkin (eds.), A Burgess Shale Primer – History, Geology, and Research Highlights. The Burgess Shale Consortium, Toronto.

SCHOLTZ, G. AND G. D. EDGECOMBE. 2006. The evolution of arthropod heads: reconciling morphological, developmental and palaeontological evidence. Development Genes and Evolution, 216: 395-415.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1888. Cambrian fossils from Mount Stephens, Northwest Territory of Canada. American Journal of Science, Series 3, 36: 163-166.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1908. Mount Stephen rocks and fossils. Canadian Alpine Journal, 1:232-248.

Other Links:

http://www.trilobites.info/ordcorynexochida.htm

Yohoia tenuis

3D animation of Yohoia tenuis.

ANIMATION BY PHLESCH BUBBLE © ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade Megacheira? (stem group arthropods)
Species name: Yohoia tenuis
Remarks:

Yohoia was originally considered to be a branchiopod crustacean (Walcott, 1912; Simonetta, 1970), but was also described as being closely related to the chelicerates (Briggs and Fortey, 1989; Wills et al., 1998; Cotton and Braddy, 2004). Other analyses suggest that Yohoia belongs in the group of “great appendage” arthropods, the Megacheira, together with Leanchoilia, Alalcomenaeus and Isoxys (Hou and Bergström, 1997; Budd, 2002). The megacheirans have been suggested to either be stem-lineage chelicerates (Chen et al. 2004; Edgecombe, 2010), or stem-lineage euarthropods (Budd, 2002).

Described by: Walcott
Description date: 1912
Etymology:

Yohoia – from the Yoho River, Lake, Pass, Glacier, Peak (2,760 m) and Park, British Columbia, Canada. “Yoho” is a Cree word expressing astonishment.

tenuis – from the Latin tenuis, “thin,” referring to its slender body.

Type Specimens: Lectoype –USNM57699 in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: none.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott, Raymond and Collins Quarries on Fossil Ridge.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Yohoia was first described by Walcott (1912), who designated the type species Y. tenuis based on six specimens, and a second species, Y. plena, based on one specimen. Additional specimens of Y. tenuis were described by Simonetta (1970), and a major redescription of Yohoia tenuis was then undertaken by Whittington (1974), based on over 400 specimens of this species. Whittington (1974) invalidated Y. plena, upgrading it to its own genus, Plenocaris plena, leaving Y. tenuis as the only species of Yohoia. Yohoia has since been included in several studies on arthropod phylogeny and evolution (e.g., Briggs and Fortey, 1989; Hou and Bergström, 1997; Wills et al., 1998; Budd, 2002; Chen et al., 2004; Cotton and Braddy, 2004).

Description:

Morphology:

The body of Yohoia consists of a head region encapsulated in a cephalic shield and 14 body segments, ending in a paddle-shaped telson. The dorsal head shield is roughly square and extends over the dorsal and lateral regions of the head. There is a pair of great appendages at the front of the head. Each appendage consists of two long, thin segments that bend like an elbow at their articulation, with four long spines at the tip. Three pairs of long, thin, segmented appendages project from beneath the head shield behind the great appendages.

The body behind the head consists of ten segments with tough plates, or tergites, that extend over the back and down the side of the animal, ending in backward-facing triangular points. The first of these body segments may have an appendage that is segmented and branches into two (biramous), with a segmented walking limb bearing a flap-like extension. The following nine body segments have only simple flap-shaped appendages fringed with short spines or setae. The next three body segments have no appendages, and the telson is a paddle-shaped plate with distal spines.

Abundance:

Over 700 specimens of Yohoia are known from the Walcott Quarry, comprising 1.3% of the specimens counted (Caron and Jackson, 2008) but only few specimens are known from the Raymond and Collins Quarries.

Maximum Size:
23 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Yohoia is thought to have used its three pairs of cephalic appendages, and possibly the biramous limb on the first body segment, to walk on the sea floor. The animal could also swim by waving the flap-like appendage on the body trunk. The setae on these appendages may have been used for respiration. The pair of frontal appendages were likely used to capture prey or scavenge food particles from the sea floor.

References:

BRIGGS, D. E. G. AND R. A. FORTEY. 1989. The early radiation and relationships of the major arthropod groups. Science, 246: 241-243.

BUDD, G. E. 2002. A palaeontological solution to the arthropod head problem. Nature, 417: 271-275.

CARON, J.-B. AND D. A. JACKSON. 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222-256.

CHEN, J. Y., D. WALOSZEK AND A. MAAS. 2004. A new ‘great-appendage’ arthropod from the Lower Cambrian of China and homology of chelicerate chelicerae and raptorial antero-ventral appendages. Lethaia, 37: 3-20.

COTTON, T. J. AND S. J. BRADDY. 2004. The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 94: 169-193.

EDGECOMBE, G. D. 2010. Arthropod phylogeny: An overview from the perspectives of morphology, molecular data and the fossil record. Arthropod Structure and Development, 39: 74-87.

HOU, X. AND J. BERGSTRÖM. 1997. Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils and Strata, 45: 1-116.

SIMONETTA, A. M. 1970. Studies on non trilobite arthropods of the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian). Palaeontographia Italica, 66 (New series 36): 35-45.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1912. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology II. Middle Cambrian Branchiopoda, Malacostraca, Trilobita and Merostomata. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(6): 145-228.

WHITTINGTON, H. B. 1974. Yohoia Walcott and Plenocaris n. gen. arthropods from the Burges

Other Links:

None

Worthenella cambria

Worthenella cambria (USNM 57643) – Holotype, part and counterpart. Left, plate 22 of Walcott (1911), showing a retouched image of the original specimen described (figure 2) together with other “worms.” Right, images of the same specimen. Specimen length = 60 mm. Specimen wet – direct light (left column), dry – polarized light (right column). Walcott Quarry.

© SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION – NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade (stem group arthropods)
Species name: Worthenella cambria
Remarks:

This animal is related to arthropods, but its systematic status within this group is unknown (Briggs and Conway Morris, 1986).

Described by: Walcott
Description date: 1911
Etymology:

Worthenella – Possibly after the American palaeontologist Amos Henry Worthen, who died in 1888, just as Walcott’s career was taking off.

cambria – from the Welsh Cambria meaning Wales, in reference to the age of the fossil.

Type Specimens: Holotype –USNM57643 in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none

Other deposits: none

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Worthenella was first described by Walcott from a single specimen in a 1911 monograph dealing with various Burgess Shale worms. Walcott interpreted this animal as a polychaete annelid (or bristle worm), in the same family as the animal Wiwaxia (which is now interpreted as a primitive mollusc). However, this interpretation was questioned (Conway Morris, 1979), and the affinities of Worthenella have remained difficult to establish because this singular fossil is too poorly known (Briggs and Conway Morris, 1986).

Description:

Morphology:

The animal is elongate with a small head and bears at least 46 segments of similar dimensions. Appendages or tentacles are present beneath the head, but their preservation is poor and it is difficult to know their precise nature and arrangement. The anterior 34 segments seem to bear filamentous branches on their ventral sides, with the following 8 segments equipped with longer appendages. The gut is straight and the anus is terminal.

Abundance:

This animal is known from a single specimen.

Maximum Size:
60 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Not enough is known about this organism to interpret its ecology.

References:

BRIGGS, D. E. G. AND S. CONWAY MORRIS. 1986. Problematica from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, p. 167-183. In A. Hoffman and M. H. Nitecki (eds.), Problematic fossil taxa (Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics No. 5). Oxford University Press & Clarendon Press, New York.

CONWAY MORRIS, S. 1979. The Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) fauna. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 10(1): 327-349.

WALCOTT, C. 1911. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology II. Middle Cambrian annelids. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(5): 109-145.

Other Links:

None

Wiwaxia corrugata

3D animation of Wiwaxia corrugata grazing on Morania confluens.

ANIMATION BY PHLESCH BUBBLE © ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade halwaxiids (stem group molluscs)
Species name: Wiwaxia corrugata
Remarks:

The relationship of Wiwaxia is hotly debated; its similarities to the molluscs have been highlighted (Conway Morris, 1985; Scheltema et al., 2003; Caron et al., 2006; Caron et al., 2007), but Matthew’s original view that it was related to the annelid worms (Matthew, 1899) still finds some adherents (Butterfield, 1990; Conway Morris and Peel, 1995; Butterfield, 2006; 2008). It is also possible that Wiwaxia branched off before the molluscs and annelids diverged (Eibye-Jacobsen, 2004). Wiwaxia has recently been placed in a group called the halwaxiids, along with the halkieriids, Orthrozanclus, and Odontogriphus (Conway Morris and Caron, 2007).

Described by: Matthew
Description date: 1899
Etymology:

Wiwaxia – from Wiwaxy Peaks (2,703 m) in Yoho National Park. The word wiwaxy is originally from the Stoney First Nation Nakoda language, meaning “windy.”

corrugata – from the Latin corrugis, “folded, or wrinkled,” in reference to the wrinkled aspect of the sclerites.

Type Specimens: Holotype –ROM8596 in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: none described, although sclerites have been reported from a number of Middle Cambrian deposits extending from northern Canada (Butterfield, 1994) to China (Zhao et al., 1994).

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott and Raymond Quarries on Fossil Ridge. The Trilobite Beds, Tulip Beds (S7) and Collins Quarry on Mount Stephen. Additional smaller localities are known on Mount Field and Mount Odaray.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

In an early review of fossils collected from the Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen by Walker, Canadian palaeontologist G. F. Matthew (1899) described several forms he thought represented tubes of various annelid worms, including one he named Orthotheca corrugata. At the time, Matthew did not know this particular fossil was only part of a much larger organism. It was only when Walcott (1911) discovered articulated and much better preserved specimens from the Phyllopod Bed that the morphology of this species became clearer. Walcott placed corrugata in his new genus Wiwaxia and interpreted it as a polychaete annelid worm (Walcott, 1911). The single best specimen of Walker’s “Orthotheca corrugata” remained unrecognized until it was “rediscovered” in the ROM collections in 1977.

Walcott’s interpretation was called into question in a comprehensive reassessment of the genus (Conway Morris, 1985), and Conway Morris’s link between Wiwaxia mouthparts and the molluscan radula was built upon by Scheltema et al. (2003) and Caron et al. (2006). Butterfield (1990), however, defended an annelid affinity mostly based on the study of individual sclerites, first at the crown-, and later at the stem-group level (Butterfield, 2003; 2006), but further work suggested that the evidence does not conclusively support a close relationship with annelids (Eibye-Jacobsen, 2004). A connection with the halkieriids was drawn early on (Bengtson and Morris, 1984; Conway Morris and Peel, 1995), and expanded more recently (Conway Morris and Caron, 2007).

Other studies have dealt more specifically with the ecology and taphonomy of this animal. The finely spaced patterning of ridges on the scale may have given Wiwaxia an iridescent aspect in life (Parker, 1998). Wiwaxia has proven useful in calculating the extent of decay in fossil assemblages (Caron and Jackson, 2006) and in reconstructing the longer term taphonomic processes responsible for the preservation of the Burgess Shale fossils (Butterfield et al., 2007).

Description:

Morphology:

Wiwaxia corrugata is a slug-like organism up to 5.5 cm in length almost entirely covered (except on the ventral surface) with an array of scale-like elements referred to as sclerites and spines. The body is roughly oval, and lacks evidence of segmentation. The body-covering sclerites are arranged in about 50 rows. In addition, two rows of 7–11 blade-like spines are present on the dorsal surface. Spines and sclerites were inserted directly into the body wall. Wiwaxia’s feeding apparatus consists of two (in rare cases three) toothed plates that have been compared to a molluscan radula or annelid jaws.

Abundance:

Wiwaxia is mostly known from the Walcott Quarry where it is relatively common, representing 0.9% of the specimens counted in the community (Caron and Jackson, 2008).

Maximum Size:
55 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

The similarity of Wiwaxia’s feeding apparatus to that of Odontogriphus suggests that it too fed on the cyanobacterial Morania mats growing on the Cambrian sea floor. Its sclerite armour-plating and long spines, sometimes found broken, suggest that it was targeted by unidentified predators.

References:

BENGSTON, S. AND S. CONWAY MORRIS, 1984. A comparative study of Lower Cambrian Halkieria and Middle Cambrian Wiwaxia. Lethaia, 17:307-329.

BUTTERFIELD, N. J. 1990. A reassessment of the enigmatic Burgess Shale fossil Wiwaxia corrugata (Matthew) and its relationship to the polychaete Canadia spinosa Walcott. Paleobiology: 287-303.

BUTTERFIELD, N. J. 1994. Burgess Shale-type fossils from a Lower Cambrian shallow-shelf sequence in northwestern Canada. Nature, 369(6480): 477-479.

BUTTERFIELD, N. J. 2003. Exceptional fossil preservation and the Cambrian Explosion. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 43:166-177.

BUTTERFIELD, N. J. 2006. Hooking some stem-group “worms”: fossil lophotrochozoans in the Burgess Shale. BioEssays, 28: 1161-1166.

BUTTERFIELD, N. J. 2008. An early Cambrian radula. Journal of Paleontology, 82(3): 543-554.

CARON, J.-B. AND D. A. JACKSON, 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222-256.

CARON, J.-B., A. H. SCHELTEMA, C. SCHANDER AND D. RUDKIN, 2006. A soft-bodied mollusc with radula from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Nature, 442(7099): 159-163.

CARON, J.-B., A. H. SCHELTEMA, C. SCHANDER AND D. RUDKIN. 2007. Reply to Butterfield on stem-group “worms:” fossil lophotrochozoans in the Burgess Shale. BioEssays, 29:200-202.

CONWAY MORRIS, S. 1985. The Middle Cambrian metazoan Wiwaxia corrugata (Matthew) from the Burgess Shale and Ogygopsis Shale Shale, British Columbia, Canada. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 307(1134): 507-582.

CONWAY MORRIS, S. AND J.-B. CARON, 2007. Halwaxiids and the Early Evolution of the Lophotrochozoans. Science, 315(5816): 1255-1258.

CONWAY MORRIS, S. AND J. S. PEEL, 1995. Articulated halkieriids from the Lower Cambrian of North Greenland and their role in early protostome evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 347(1321): 305-358.

EIBYE-JACOBSEN, D. 2004. A reevaluation of Wiwaxia and the polychaetes of the Burgess Shale. Lethaia, 37(3): 317-335.

MATTHEW, G. F. 1899. Studies on Cambrian Faunas, No. 3. Upper Cambrian fauna, Mount Stephen, British Columbia. The trilobites and worms. Transactions of the Royal Society, 5: 39-66.

PARKER, A. R. 1998. Colour in Burgess Shale animals and the effect of light on evolution in the Cambrian. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 265(1400): 967.

SCHELTEMA, A. H., K. KERTH AND A. M. KUZIRIAN, 2003. Original molluscan radula: Comparisons among Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Gastropoda, and the Cambrian fossil Wiwaxia corrugata. Journal of Morphology, 257(2): 219-245.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1911. Middle Cambrian annelids. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(2): 109-144.

ZHAO, Y.-l., Y. QIAN AND X.-S. LI, 1994. Wiwaxia from Early-Middle Cambrian Kaili Formation in Taijiang, Guizhou. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 33:359-366.

Other Links:

http://www.paleobiology.si.edu/burgess/wiwaxia.html

Thelxiope palaeothalassia

Thelxiope palaeothalassia (GSC 74990). Articulated specimen (close up to the right), associated with several individuals of the arthropod Canadaspis perfecta. Specimen length = 29 mm. Specimen dry – polarized light. Walcott Quarry.

© GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade (stem group arthropods)
Species name: Thelxiope palaeothalassia
Remarks:

The affinity of Thelxiope has not been considered in detail because the appendages are unknown.

Described by: Simonetta and Delle Cave
Description date: 1975
Etymology:

Thelxiope – from the Greek thelx meaning “enchanting,” and ops, meaning “voice,” referring to the muse-like appearance of the animal.

palaeothalassia – from the Greek palaios, meaning “ancient,” and thalassios, meaning “marine,” in reference to the age and environment where the animal lived.

Type Specimens: Holotype –USNM144914 in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: none.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Walcott (1912) figured two fragmentary specimens as Mollisonia? rara; these were first reinterpreted by Simonetta (1964) within a new genus Parahabelia rara, along with three additional specimens that he thought were related. However, Simonetta and Delle Cave (1975) considered that among those five specimens, the two originally figured by Walcott as M? rara had to be synonymized with M. symmetrica and the other three had to be placed within a new genus and species called Thelxiope palaeothalassia, a name in use since then.

Description:

Morphology:

This species has a relatively wide cephalon and seven segments and resembles Habelia in overall shape. However, in T. palaeothalassia, each segment bears a single prominent spine pointing dorsally. The last segment is armed with a very long pointed telson.

Abundance:

Thelxiope is extremely rare, with only four known specimens.

Maximum Size:
43 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Thelxiope is too poorly known to allow detailed studies of its ecology.

References:

SIMONETTA, A. M. 1964. Osservazioni sugli arthropodi non trilobiti della “Burgess Shale” (Cambriano medio). Monitore Zoologico Italiano, 72 (3-4: III Contributo: I Generi Molaria, Habelia, Emeraldella, Parahabelia (Nov.) Emeraldoides (Nov.): 215-231.

SIMONETTA, A. M. AND L. DELLE CAVE. 1975. The Cambrian non-trilobite arthropods from the Burgess shale of British Columbia: A study of their comparative morphology, taxonomy and evolutionary significance. Palaeontographia Italica, 69: 1-37.

WALCOTT, C. 1912. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology II. Middle Cambrian Branchiopoda, Malacostraca, Trilobita and Merostomata. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(6):145-228.

Other Links:

None

Tegopelte gigas

Tegopelte gigas (USNM 189201) – Holotype. Complete specimen showing antennae and appendages partially prepared near the back. Specimen length = 270 mm. Specimen dry – direct (top) and polarized light (bottom). Walcott Quarry.

© SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION – NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade (stem group arthropods)
Species name: Tegopelte gigas
Remarks:

Tegopelte is usually compared to the soft-bodied “trilobites” such as Naraoia and Saperion, but the exact relationships of these taxa to the mineralized trilobites is uncertain (Whittington, 1977). The tegopeltids and other trilobite-like arthropods are sometimes referred to as Trilobitoidea, which when grouped together with the trilobites form the Lamellipedians (Hou and Bergström, 1997; Wills et al., 1998; Edgecombe and Ramsköld, 1999). This group has been variously placed in the upper stem lineage of the arthropods (Budd, 2002), or in the stem lineage of either the mandibulates (Scholtz and Edgecombe, 2006) or the chelicerates (Cotton and Braddy, 2004).

Described by: Simonetta and Delle Cave
Description date: 1975
Etymology:

Tegopelte – from the Greek tegos, “tile,” and pelte, “leather-shield,” referring to the shape of the dorsal body covering.

gigas – from the Greek gigas, “giant,” referring to the large size of the animal.

Type Specimens: Holotype –USNM189201 in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: none.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Tegopelte was first described by Simonetta and Delle Cave (1975) to include only two relatively large specimens. This original description showed Tegopelte to have a cephalon with six or seven pairs of walking appendages, a thorax of four tergites each bearing five appendages, and a tail segment with ten appendages. Whittington (1985) re-examined the animal, reducing the number of head appendages to three, and describing the thorax as having only three tergites with three appendages each. The tail in Whittington’s (1985) reconstruction had two segments with a total of 20 appendages. Later re-examination by Ramsköld et al. (1996) suggested that the body has no tergites, but instead consists of an undivided dorsal shield. Tegopelte has been grouped together with the Chengjiang taxon Saperion to form the Tegopeltidae (Ramsköld et al., 1996; Hou and Bergström, 1997), a clade later confirmed by cladistic analysis (Edgecombe and Ramsköld, 1999; Hendricks and Lieberman, 2008).

Description:

Morphology:

The dorsal morphology of Tegopelte consists of an elongated oval-shaped dorsal shield that is featureless and undivided. The length of the two known specimens is 25.7 cm and 27.0 cm, making it one of the largest arthropods in the Burgess Shale. The ventral morphology consists of a pair of multi-segmented antennae at the front of the body, followed by a series of identical limbs that are segmented and branch into two (biramous), totaling approximately 33 along the entire body. The biramous limbs have a walking branch made up of six segments with a pair of spines on the terminal segment, and a filamentous branch where numerous elongated oval blades attach to a central shaft. The biramous limbs decrease in size towards the posterior end of the body.

Abundance:

Tegopelte is extremely rare, with only two known specimens.

Maximum Size:
270 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Tegopelte probably spent much of its time walking on the seafloor, based on the presence of many appendages. It used the segmented branches of its biramous appendages for walking, and it is likely that the filamentous branches were used for oxygen exchange, and to propel the animal through the water during short bursts of swimming. The antennae would have been used to sense the environment. The lack of eyes, gut glands and feeding appendages make it difficult to allocate a feeding strategy to Tegopelte.

References:

BUDD, G. E. 2002. A palaeontological solution to the arthropod head problem. Nature, 417: 271-275.

COTTON, T. J. AND S. J. BRADDY. 2004. The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 94: 169-193.

SCHOLTZ, G. AND G. D. EDGECOMBE. 2006. The evolution of arthropod heads: reconciling morphological, developmental and palaeontological evidence. Development Genes and Evolution, 216: 395-415.

EDGECOMBE, G. D. and L. RAMSKÖLD. 1999. Relationships of Cambrian Arachnata and the systematic position of Trilobita. Jounral of Paleontology, 73: 263-287.

HENDRICKS, J. R. AND B. S. LIEBERMAN. 2008. New phylogenetic insights into the Cambrian radiation of arachnomorph arthropods. Journal of Paleontology, 83: 585-594.

HOU, X. AND J. BERGSTRÖM. 1997. Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils and Strata, 45: 1-116.

RAMSKÖLD, L., J. CHEN, G. D. EDGECOMBE AND G. ZHOU. 1996. Preservational folds simulating tergite junctions in tegopeltid and naraoiid arthropods. Lethaia, 29: 15-20.

SIMONETTA, A. M. AND L. DELLE CAVE. 1975. The Cambrian non-trilobite arthropods from the Burgess shale of British Columbia: A study of their comparative morphology, taxonomy and evolutionary significance. . Palaeontographia Italica, 69: 1-37.

WHITTINGTON, H. B. 1977. The Middle Cambrian trilobite Naraoia, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B, 280: 409-443.

WHITTINGTON, H. B. 1985. Tegopelte gigas, a second soft-bodied trilobite from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia. Journal of Paleontology, 59: 1251-1274.

WILLS, M. A., D. E. G. BRIGGS, R. A. FORTEY, M. WILKINSON AND P. H. A. SNEATH. 1998. An arthropod phylogeny based on fossil and recent taxa, p. 33-105. In G. D. Edgecombe (ed.), Arthropod fossils and phylogeny. Columbia University Press, New York.

Other Links:

None

Stephenoscolex argutus

Stephenoscolex argutus (USNM 83936b) – Holotype. Specimen showing the head (top left) followed by the trunk, which is lined by narrow parapodia and setae. Filamentous structures around the body probably represent cyanobacteria. Specimen length = 32 mm. Specimen dry – direct light (left) and wet – direct light (right). Walcott Quarry.

© SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION – NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade (stem group polychaetes)
Species name: Stephenoscolex argutus
Remarks:

Stephenoscolex bears some resemblance to modern polychaetes but cannot be placed in any extant group (Conway Morris, 1979) suggesting a position as a stem-group polychaete (Eibye-Jacobsen, 2004).

Described by: Conway Morris
Description date: 1979
Etymology:

Stephenoscolex – from the Greek scolex, “worm,” and Mount Stephen. Mount Stephen (3,199 m) was named after George Stephen (1829 – 1921), first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

argutus – from the Latin argutus, “bright,” in recognition of the shininess of the fossils.

Type Specimens: USNM – 83936b in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Paratype –ROM32574 in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: none.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Walcott (1911; 1931) included the holotype of this species within Canadia dubia, which Simon Conway Morris, in his 1979 re-examination of Burgess Shale polychaetes, reclassified as Stephenoscolex. Conway Morris found a further partial specimen in the ROMcollections, and further specimens have since been recovered by the ROMbelow the Walcott Quarry. However, this additional material awaits detailed study; since the published description rests on two specimens, it must be treated with caution (Eibye-Jacobsen, 2004).

Description:

Morphology:

The worm has a slim body, around 1 mm wide, reaching around 3 cm in length. Its head bears two pairs of appendages extending from its front and sides. It has around forty further segments, each of which bear simple lateral projections (uniramous) called parapodia. The parapodia each bear around fifteen short and simple setae. Cirri and branchiae are absent.

Abundance:

Stephenoscolex was considered one of the rarest annelids from the Burgess Shale but additional material has now been collected from the Walcott Quarry representing 0.28% of the specimens counted in the community (Caron and Jackson, 2008).

Maximum Size:
32 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

There is little that can confidently be stated about the life habit of this animal, but the pattern of spines suggests that it crept or swum over or in the sediment.

References:

CARON, J.-B. AND D. A. JACKSON. 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222-256.

CONWAY MORRIS, S. 1979. Middle Cambrian polychaetes from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 285(1007): 227-274.

EIBYE-JACOBSEN, D. 2004. A reevaluation of Wiwaxia and the polychaetes of the Burgess Shale. Lethaia, 37(3): 317-335.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1911. Middle Cambrian annelids. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(2): 109-144.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1931. Addenda to descriptions of Burgess Shale fossils. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 85(3): 1-46.

Other Links:

None

Stanleycaris hirpex

Stanleycaris hirpex (ROM 59944) – Holotype, part and counterpart. Individual claw. Specimen length = 29 mm. Specimen dry – polarized light. Stanley Glacier.

© ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Dinocarida (Order: Radiodonta, stem group arthropods)
Species name: Stanleycaris hirpex
Remarks:

Stanleycaris is an anomalocaridid closely related to Hurdia and Laggania. Anomalocaridids have been variously regarded as basal stem-lineage euarthropods (e.g., Daley et al., 2009), basal members of the arthropod group Chelicerata (e.g., Chen et al., 2004), and as a sister group to the arthropods (e.g., Hou et al., 2006).

Described by: Caron et al.
Description date: 2010
Etymology:

Stanleycaris – from Stanley Glacier, 40 kilometres southeast of the Burgess Shale in Kootenay National Park, where the fossils come from and the Latin caris, meaning “shrimp.” The name Stanley was given after Frederick Arthur Stanley (1841-1908), Canada’s sixth Governor General.

hirpex – from the Latin, hirpex, meaning “large rake,” in reference to the rake-like aspect of the appendage.

Type Specimens: Holotype –ROM59944 in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: none.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Stanley Glacier in Kootenay National Park.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

The first fossils of this species were collected by the Royal Ontario Museum in 1996 from talus slopes, but it was not until 2008, during a larger expedition, that specimens were discovered in their proper stratigraphic context. A description of this new genus and species soon followed (Caron et al., 2010).

Description:

Morphology:

Stanleycaris is known from paired or isolated grasping appendages and disarticulated assemblages. The entire animal might have reached 15 centimetres in total length. The grasping appendages range in length from 1.2 cm to 3 cm and have eleven segments (or podomeres), with five spinous ventral blades on the second to sixth segments. Double-pointed dorsal spines are particularly prominent from the second to the sixth segment, decreasing in size towards the distal end of the appendage. The longest of these robust spines is typically two to three times shorter than the ventral blades. The last segment has three curved terminal spines. Mouthparts are represented by circlets of plates bearing teeth around a central square opening. Assemblages are poorly preserved, and the best example consists of a pair of grasping appendages, a mouth part, and remnants of what might represent parts of a carapace or gill structures.

Abundance:

This species is relatively rare and only found near Stanley Glacier.

Maximum Size:
150 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Stanleycaris is considered a predator or a scavenger, based on the morphology of its frontal appendages and mouth parts. The comb-like ventral blades might have been useful for searching small prey items or disturbing carcasses at the water-sediment interface and within the flocculent level of the mud.

References:

CARON, J.-B., R. GAINES, G. MANGANO, M. STRENG AND A. DALEY. 2010. A new Burgess Shale-type assemblage from the “thin” Stephen Formation of the Southern Canadian Rockies. Geology, 38(9): 811-814.

CHEN, J. Y., L. RAMSKÖLD AND G. Q. ZHOU. 1994. Evidence for monophyly and arthropod affinity of Cambrian giant predators. Science, 264: 1304-1308.

CHEN, J. Y., D. WALOSZEK AND A. MAAS. 2004. A new ‘great-appendage’ arthropod from the Lower Cambrian of China and homology of chelicerate chelicerae and raptorial antero-ventral appendages. Lethaia, 37: 3-20.

DALEY, A. C., G. E. BUDD, J. B. CARON, G. D. EDGECOMBE AND D. COLLINS. 2009. The Burgess Shale anomalocaridid Hurdia and its significance for early euarthropod evolution. Science, 323: 1597-1600.

HOU, X., J. BERGSTRÖM AND P. AHLBERG. 1995. Anomalocaris and other large animals in the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna of Southwest China. GFF, 117: 163-183.

Other Links:

http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/full/38/9/811?ijkey=ZQFY537sTggAw&keytype=ref&siteid=gsgeology

Skania fragilis

Skania fragilis (ROM 60752) – Part and counterpart (first and second rows). Complete specimen showing antennae. Specimen length = 11 mm. Specimen dry – polarized light (left column) and wet (right column). Raymond Quarry.

© ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade (stem group arthropods)
Species name: Skania fragilis
Remarks:

The affinity of Skania is controversial, but most agree it is related to the arthropods. It is similar to Primicaris (Lin et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2007), and both taxa have been compared to soft-bodied trilobites like Naraoia (Walcott, 1931; Zhang et al., 2007; Hou and Bergström, 1997). Other researchers suggest these taxa are related to the enigmatic Ediacaran taxon Parvancorina (Delle Cave and Simonetta, 1975; Gehling, 1991; Conway Morris, 1993; Simonetta and Insom, 1993), with all three taxa forming a clade in sister group position relative to the trilobites (Lin et al., 2006).

Described by: Walcott
Description date: 1931
Etymology:

Skania – from Skana, the name of a glacier near Mount Robson, British Columbia, Canada.

fragilis – from the Latin fragilis, “brittle,” referring to the delicate nature and small size of the animal.

Type Specimens: Holotype –USNM83950 in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: Skania sundbergi Lin et al. 2006 from the Kaili Formation, China.

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott and Raymond Quarries on Fossil Ridge.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Skania fragilis was first described by Walcott (1931) in a posthumous monograph published by his assistant Charles Resser. Resser compared Skania to the trilobites and Naraoia. However in a redescription by Delle Cave and Simonetta (1975), it was suggested instead that Skania was closely related to the Ediacaran taxon Parvancorina minchami Glaessner 1958. This affinity has been much discussed (Gehling, 1991; Conway Morris, 1993; Simonetta and Insom, 1993; Lin et al. 2006), and Skania has also been compared extensively with Primicaris Zhang et al. 2003. Skania and Primicaris have also been interpreted as juveniles (protaspides) of naraoiids (Hou and Bergström, 1997).

Description:

Morphology:

Skania has a single, undifferentiated, soft dorsal shield that is roughly kite-shaped. The dorsal shield is rounded at the front of the head, and tapers towards the posterior of the body, ending in a pair of short margin spines at the posterior end. At the point of maximum width there are sharp genal spines directed posteriorly. The posterior margin of the head is delineated by a narrow rim that is strongly arched forward, with the cephalic region occupying one-quarter of the exoskeletal length. A midgut is preserved in the axial region of the body trunk. Appendages are poorly preserved but consist of a pair of anterior antennae and ten or more paired body limbs.

Abundance:

Skania fragilis is known from fewer than 40 specimens in total.

Maximum Size:
17 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

The ecology of Skania is poorly known because the details of its morphology remain enigmatic. The form of the appendages is assumed to be biramous based on the overall similarity with Primicaris, which possesses biramous appendages, meaning that both animals may have walked on the seafloor, using their filamentous appendages for oxygen exchange and occasional swimming. Skania lacks eyes, so it likely used its antennae to sense the environment. The feeding strategy is unknown.

References:

CONWAY MORRIS, S. 1993. Ediacaran-like fossil in Cambrian Burgess Shale-type faunas of North America. Palaeontology, 36: 593-635.

DELLE CAVE, L. AND A. M. SIMONETTA. 1975. Notes on the morphology and taxonomic position of Aysheaia (Onycophora?) and of Skania (undetermined phylum). Monitore Zoologico Italiano New Series, 9: 67-81.

GEHLING, J. G. 1991. The case for Ediacaran fossil roots to the metazoan tree, p. 181-223. In B. P. Radhakrishna (ed.), The world of Martin F. Glaessner. Geological Society of India, Bangalore.

HOU, X. AND J. BERGSTRÖM. 1997. Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils and Strata, 45: 1-116.

LIN, J., S. M. GON III, J. G. GEHLING, L. E. BABCOCK, Y. ZHAO, X. ZHANG, S. HU, J. YUAN M. YU AND J. PENG. 2006. A Parvancorina-like arthropod from the Cambrian of South China. Historical Biology, 18: 33-45.

SIMONETTA, A. M. AND E. INSOM. 1993. New animals from the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) and their possible significance for the understanding of the Bilateria. Bolletino di Zoologia, 60: 97-107.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1931. Addenda to descriptions of Burgess Shale fossils. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 85: 1-46.

ZHANG, X., D. SHU AND D. H. ERWIN. 2007. Cambrian naraoiids (Arthropoda): morphology, ontogeny, systematics, and evolutionary relationships. Palaeontological Society Memoir, 68: 1-52.

Other Links:

None

Sidneyia inexpectans

3D animation of Sidneyia inexpectans.

ANIMATION BY PHLESCH BUBBLE © ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Mobile
Phylum: Mobile
Class: Unranked clade (stem group arthropods)
Species name: Sidneyia inexpectans
Remarks:

Sidneyia is usually considered to be closely related to the chelicerates, but its exact position relative to this group remains unclear (Budd and Telford, 2009). Sidneyia has been variously placed as the sister group to the chelicerates (Hou and Bergström, 1997), close to the crown on the chelicerate stem lineage (Bruton, 1981; Edgecombe and Ramsköld, 1999; Hendricks and Lieberman, 2008), or basal in the chelicerate stem lineage (Briggs and Fortey, 1989; Wills et al., 1998; Cotton and Braddy, 2004).

Described by: Walcott
Description date: 1911
Etymology:

Sidneyia – after Walcott’s son Sidney, who discovered the first specimen in August of 1910.

inexpectans – from the Latin inexpectans, “unexpected,” since Walcott did not expect to find such a fossil in strata older than the Ordovician.

Type Specimens: Lectotype –USNM57487 (S. inexpectans) in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: A single specimen from the Chengjiang Fauna in China was used to describe a second species, Sidneyia sinica (Zhang et al. 2002), however this was later shown to be incorrectly attributed to Sidneyia (Briggs et al. 2008).

Age & Localities:

Period:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: The Walcott, Raymond and Collins Quarries on Fossil Ridge, Mount Field and Mount Stephen – Tulip Beds (S7) and other smaller localities – Odaray Mountain and Stanley Glacier.

Other deposits: Sidneyia has been described from the Wheeler Formation (Briggs and Robison, 1984) and the Spence Shale (Briggs et al. 2008) in Utah, and the Kinzers Formation in Pennsylvania (Resser and Howell, 1938).

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Sidneyia was the first fossil to be described by Walcott (1911) from the Burgess Shale. Further details were added by Walcott the following year (Walcott, 1912), and Strømer (1944) and Simonetta (1963) made minor revisions to Walcott’s reconstruction. A large appendage found in isolation was originally suggested to be the large frontal appendage of Sidneyia (Walcott, 1911), but this was later found to belong to the anomalocaridid Laggania (Whittington and Briggs, 1985). A major study by Bruton (1981) redescribed the species based on the hundreds of available specimens.

Description:

Morphology:

Sidneyia has a short, wide head shield that is convexly domed and roughly square. The two front lateral corners are notched to allow an antenna and a stalked eye to protrude. Other than the pair of antennae, which are long and thin with at least 20 segments, there are no cephalic appendages. The hemispherical and highly reflective eyes are above and posterior to the antennae.

The thorax of Sidneyia has nine wide, thin body segments that widen from the first to the fourth segment and then get progressively narrower posteriorly. The first four thoracic segments bear appendages with a large, spiny basal segment (the coxa) and 8 thinner segments, ending in a sharp claw. The next five thoracic appendages have a similar appendage but also have flap-like filaments in association with the limbs.

The abdomen consists of three circular rings that are much narrower than the thorax, with a terminal, triangular telson. The last segment of the abdomen has a pair of wide flaps that articulate with the telson to form a tail fan. A trace of the straight gut can be seen in some specimens extending from the anterior mouth to the anus on the telson, and pieces of broken trilobites are sometimes preserved in the gut.

Abundance:

Sidneyia is a relatively common arthropod in the Walcott Quarry, comprising 0.3% of the specimens counted (Caron and Jackson, 2008). Hundreds of specimens have been collected from the Walcott Quarry (Bruton, 1981) and in other nearby localities.

Maximum Size:
160 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Mobile
Feeding strategies: Mobile
Ecological Interpretations:

Sidneyia walked and swam above the sea floor. Its anterior four thoracic appendages were used for walking, and the spiny basal coxa would crush food items and move them towards the mouth. The posterior five thoracic appendages were used for swimming, with the flap-like filaments undulating through the water column to create propulsion. These filaments were also likely used for breathing, like gills.

The predatory nature of Sidneyia is indicated by its spiny coxa used to masticate food, and the presence of crushed fossil debris in its gut. Sidneyia would have walked or swam above the sea floor, using its eyes and antennae to seek out prey, which it would capture and crush with its anterior appendages.

References:

BRIGGS, D. E. G. AND R. A. FORTEY. 1989. The early radiation and relationships of the major arthropod groups. Science, 246: 241-243.

BRIGGS, D. E. G. AND R. A. ROBISON. 1984. Exceptionally preserved non-trilobite arthropods and Anomalocaris from the Middle Cambrian of Utah. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, 111: 1-24.

BRIGGS, D. E. G., B. S. LIEBERMAN, J. R. HENDRICKS, S. L. HALGEDAHL AND R. D. JARRARD. 2008. Middle Cambrian arthropods from Utah. Journal of Paleontology, 82(2): 238-254.

BRUTON, D. L. 1981. The arthropod Sidneyia inexpectans, Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 295: 619-653.

BUDD, G. E. AND M. J. TELFORD. 2009. The origin and evolution of arthropods. Nature, 457(7231): 812-817.

CARON, J.-B. AND D. A. JACKSON. 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222-256.

CARON, J.-B., R. GAINES, G. MANGANO, M. STRENG, AND A. DALEY. 2010. A new Burgess Shale-type assemblage from the “thin” Stephen Formation of the Southern Canadian Rockies. Geology, 38: 811-814.

COTTON, T. J. AND S. J. BRADDY. 2004. The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 94: 169-193.

EDGECOMBE, G. D. AND L. RAMSKÖLD. 1999. Relationships of Cambrian Arachnata and the systematic position of Trilobita. Jounral of Paleontology, 73: 263-287.

HENDRICKS , J. R. AND B. S. LIEBERMAN. 2008. Phylogenetic insights into the Cambrian radiation of arachnomorph arthropods. Journal of Paleontology, 82: 585-594.

HOU, X. AND J. BERGSTRÖM. 1997. Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils and Strata, 45: 1-116.

RASSER, C. E. AND B. F. HOWELL. 1938. Lower Cambrian Olenellus zone of the Appalachians. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 49: 195-248.

SIMONETTA, A. M. 1963. Osservazioni sugli artropodi non trilobiti della Burgess Shale (Cambriano medio). II. Contributo: I Generai Sidneyia ed Amiella Walcott 1911. Monitore Zoologico Italiano, 70: 97-108.

STØMER, L. 1944. On the relationships and phylogeny of fossil and recent Arachnomorpha. Norsk Videnskaps-Akademi Skrifter I. Matematisk-Naturvidenskaplig Klasse, 5: 1-158.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1911. Middle Cambrian Merostomata. Cambrian geology and paleontology II. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57: 17-40.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1912. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology II. Middle Cambrian Branchiopoda, Malacostraca, Trilobita and Merostomata. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(6): 145-228.

WHITTINGTON, H. B. AND D. E. G. BRIGGS. 1985. The largest Cambrian animal, Anomalocaris, Burgess Shale, British-Columbia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 309: 569-609.

WILLS, M. A., D. E. G. BRIGGS, R. A. FORTEY, M. WILKINSON AND P. H. A. SNEATH. 1998. An arthropod phylogeny based on fossil and recent taxa, pp. 33-105. In G. D. Edgecombe (ed.), Arthropod fossils and phylogeny. Columbia University Press, New York.

ZHU, X., H. JIAN AND S. DEGAN. 2002. New occurrence of the Burgess Shale arthropod Sidneyia in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte (South China), and revision of the arthropod Urokodia. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 26: 1-18.

Other Links:

http://paleobiology.si.edu/burgess/sidneyia.html