Sarotrocercus
| Sarotrocercus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
| File:USNM PAL 144890 Sarotrocercus oblita Image 06.jpg | |
| Holotype | |
| File:20210712 Sarotrocercus oblitus Sarotrocercus oblita.png | |
| Reconstruction of Sarotrocercus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Sarotrocercus |
| Species: | †S. oblitus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Sarotrocercus oblitus Whittington, 1981
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Sarotrocercus is a small Cambrian arthropod known from Burgess Shale, reaching a centimetre or two in length (0.39–0.79 in).[1] Sarotrocercus is only known from 7 specimens.[2] It may lie in the arthropod crown group, and a recent study has revised some points of its original description.[2]
Morphology
[edit | edit source]Sarotrocercus had a head shield followed by a trunk of 10 or 11 segments and a telson featuring a series of spines on the end.[2] A pair of big eyes at the end of stalks ventrally emerged from the front of the head.[2] The head bore two pairs of sturdy appendages that are armed with rows of inner spines.[2] At least the anterior 9 trunk segments each possess a pair of appendages, which are only known by lobe-like exopods that are fringed with setae.[2]
Ecology
[edit | edit source]In the original description, Sarotrocercus had been interpreted as a pelagic, nektonic animal that swam freely on its back, moving perhaps through movements of the trunk appendages and the action of its long tail tuft.[3] This was mainly based on the rarity of the specimens, as the Burgess Shale contains few swimming organisms; the submarine landslides that buried organisms mainly smothered benthic and nektobenthic organisms.[3][4] However, based on the redescription by Haug et al. 2011, Sarotrocercus may had been benthic or at least swimming close to the seafloor, as the robust head appendages rather suggest a grasping or raking function.[2]
External links
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References
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