Aquilonifer
Sign in to saveAquilonifer spinosus is an extinct species of arthropod from the Silurian period. It is known from a single fossil specimen found in the Wenlock Series Lagerstätte of Herefordshire, England, in rocks about 430 million years old. The 1 cm long specimen is a stem-group mandibulate, not directly related to any living species. The many-legged, eyeless adult has ten unusual tethered appendages, interpreted as juveniles attached to the parent, in a unique form and previously unknown brooding behaviour.
Wikidata facts
- Parent taxon
- Mandibulata
- Named after
- The Kite Runner
- Image
- Aquilonifer2.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- taxon name
- Aquilonifer
- taxon rank
- genus
- Commons category
- Aquilonifer
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Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Description
- Paleoecology
- References
Aquilonifer spinosus is an extinct species of arthropod from the Silurian period. It is known from a single fossil specimen found in the Wenlock Series Lagerstätte of Herefordshire, England, in rocks about 430 million years old. The 1 cm long specimen is a stem-group mandibulate, not directly related to any living species. The many-legged, eyeless adult has ten unusual tethered appendages, interpreted as juveniles attached to the parent, in a unique form and previously unknown brooding behaviour.
Studies in 2018 and 2022 unexpectedly recovered Aquilonifer as a possible close relative of Pycnogonida and Marrellomorpha, suggesting that the latter is a paraphyletic group.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Aquilonifer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.