Utaurora
Sign in to saveUtaurora is an extinct genus of opabiniid, which were stem-arthropods closely related to true arthropods and radiodonts; the type species is U. comosa. The animal's fossils come from the Cambrian of Utah. This genus is the only other known unquestionable opabiniid, with the other being Opabinia itself. There are other animals like Myoscolex and Mieridduryn that could be opabiniids, but the classification of those two genera is still debated.
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Utaurora is an extinct genus of opabiniid, which were stem-arthropods closely related to true arthropods and radiodonts; the type species is U. comosa. The animal's fossils come from the Cambrian of Utah. This genus is the only other known unquestionable opabiniid, with the other being Opabinia itself. There are other animals like Myoscolex and Mieridduryn that could be opabiniids, but the classification of those two genera is still debated.
==History of study== The holotype specimen of Utaurora comosa, KUMIP 314087, was collected from the Wheeler Formation in Utah. It was initially described as a specimen of Anomalocaris in 2008. In 2022, Pates et al. reinterpreted the specimen as an opabiniid and described it as a new genus and species.