Urokodia

Extinct genus of crustaceans

Urokodia Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3–Mid Cambrian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Order:	†Mollisoniida?
Genus:	†Urokodia
Species:	†U. aequalis

Urokodia aequalis is an extinct genus of arthropod from the early Cambrian. The taxon is only known from the Maotianshan Shales of China based on some 15 specimens.^[1] Its segmentation resembles that of a millipede and it possessed head and tail shields with thorny spikes. It has some similarities to the arthropod Mollisonia that is known from both the Burgess Shale of Canada and the Kaili biota of China. Recently, the taxon has been considered a member of the order Mollisoniida, alongside Mollisonia, Thelxiope, and Corcorania, the group are suggested to be stem-chelicerates.^[2] However, a paper published in July 2024 found Urokodia to be the most basal artiopod instead.^[3]

References

^ Hou, Xian-Guang; Aldridge, Richard J; Bergstrom, Jan; Siveter, David J. (1989). "The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Skabelund, Jacob; Ortega-Hernández, Javier (2020-04-09). "Revision of the mollisoniid chelicerate(?) Thelxiope, with a new species from the middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation of Utah". PeerJ. 8: e8879. doi:10.7717/peerj.8879. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7151752. PMID 32296605.
^ Liu, Cong; Fu, Dongjing; Wu, Yu; Zhang, Xingliang (July 2024). "Cambrian euarthropod Urokodia aequalis sheds light on the origin of Artiopoda body plan". iScience: 110443. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.110443. PMC 11325232.