Balcoracania dailyi
- 演化之聲
- Mar 18
- 1 min read
Age
Cambrian（"Stage 3"）
521 Ma
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Trilobita
Order: Redlichiida
Family: Emuellidae
Genus: Balcoracania
Species: Balcoracania dailyi
Morphological description
Balcoracania dailyi has a semicircular cephalon with relatively well-developed genal spines. The prothorax consists of six segments, with the sixth segment bearing a distinct pleural spine. The opisthothorax becomes extremely elongated in adults, with the highest known individuals possessing up to 97 segments. The pygidium is small.
Etymology
Balcoracania Creek: a locality where the fossils of this species were collected
dailyi: a surname, honoring B. Daily, the discoverer of the species
Biological description
Balcoracania dailyi is currently the only valid species within the genus and has been primarily discovered in southern Australia.
It inhabited shallow marine environments and represents the only known trilobite species within its local stratigraphic unit. The presence of tubular burrow traces in the same strata suggests that this species coexisted within an ecosystem that included certain brachiopods.
（Author: Bai Leng）
References
Paterson, J.R., Edgecombe, G.D. (2006). The Early Cambrian trilobite Family Emuellidae Popock, 1970: Systematic position and revision of Australian Species. Journal of Paleontology
Paterson, J.R., Jago, J.B., Brock, G.A., Gehling, J.G. (2007). Taphonomy and palaeoecology of the emuellid trilobite Balcoracania dailyi (early Cambrian, South Australia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
-35.6, 137.5
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