Megacheira
Sign in to saveAlso known as megacheiran, great appendage arthropod
Megacheira (from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "great", and χείρ (kheír), meaning "hand", also historically great appendage arthropods) is an extinct class of predatory arthropods defined by their possession of spined "great appendages". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies generally either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. The homology of the great appendages to the cephalic appendages of other arthropods is also controversial. Uncontested members of the group were present in marine environments worldwide from the lower Cambrian to
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Megacheira is referenced by 95 other articles, and connects out to arthropod leg, Chelicerata and Radiodonta.
Vinony files it under Arthropod classes, Megacheira and Prehistoric protostome classes.
Its subject is documented across 11 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
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- 20191028 Megacheirans Leanchoilia Haikoucaris Yohoia Fortiforceps.png
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- Commons category
- Megacheira
- taxon name
- Megacheira
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Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Morphology
- Taxonomy
- Relationship to other arthropods
- List of genera
- References
Megacheira (from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "great", and χείρ (kheír), meaning "hand", also historically great appendage arthropods) is an extinct class of predatory arthropods defined by their possession of spined "great appendages". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies generally either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. The homology of the great appendages to the cephalic appendages of other arthropods is also controversial. Uncontested members of the group were present in marine environments worldwide from the lower Cambrian to the upper Ordovician.
== Morphology ==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Megacheira” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.