Echidnacaris
| Echidnacaris Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Diagram of frontal appendage | |
| Speculative body size estimation | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | †Dinocaridida |
| Order: | †Radiodonta |
| Family: | †Tamisiocarididae |
| Genus: | †Echidnacaris Paterson, García-Bellidob & Edgecombe, 2023 |
| Species: | †E. briggsi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Echidnacaris briggsi (Nedin, 1995) | |
Echidnacaris briggsi is an extinct species of radiodont known from the Cambrian Stage 4 aged Emu Bay Shale of Australia. Formerly referred to as "Anomalocaris" briggsi, it was placed in the new monotypic genus Echidnacaris in 2023. It is only distantly related to true Anomalocaris, and is instead placed in the family Tamisiocarididae.
It is primarily known from its frontal appendages, which were 87–175 millimetres (3.4–6.9 in) in length, and had 14 segments/podomeres. The first few segments were substantially taller than they were wide, with podomeres 2-12 bearing long, slender posteriorly curving endites/ventral spines which bore numerous small auxiliary spines. Like other tamisiocaridids, it is suggested to have been a suspension feeder, using its frontal appendages to capture small prey. Isolated eyes attributed to the species suggest that they were not stalked, but instead were adhered directly to the head, and surrounded by sclerotised structures. There were more than 13,000 lenses in the largest eyes, which were over 3 cm in diameter. The individual lenses were large, with some exceeding 335 μm in diameter, which was possibly an adaptation to seeing in low-light waters. The oral cone was triradial with three large plates, with the plates being studded with numerous tubercules.