Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

A giant Ordovician anomalocaridid

Nature volume 473, pages 510–513 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Anomalocaridids, giant lightly sclerotized invertebrate predators, occur in a number of exceptionally preserved early and middle Cambrian (542–501 million years ago) biotas and have come to symbolize the unfamiliar morphologies displayed by stem organisms in faunas of the Burgess Shale type. They are characterized by a pair of anterior, segmented appendages, a circlet of plates around the mouth, and an elongate segmented trunk lacking true tergites with a pair of flexible lateral lobes per segment1,2. Disarticulated body parts, such as the anterior appendages and oral circlet, had been assigned to a range of taxonomic groups—but the discovery of complete specimens from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale showed that these disparate elements all belong to a single kind of animal3. Phylogenetic analyses support a position of anomalocaridids in the arthropod stem, as a sister group to the euarthropods4,5,6. The anomalocaridids were the largest animals in Cambrian communities. The youngest unequivocal examples occur in the middle Cambrian Marjum Formation of Utah7 but an arthropod retaining some anomalocaridid characteristics is present in the Devonian of Germany5. Here we report the post-Cambrian occurrence of anomalocaridids, from the Early Ordovician (488–472 million years ago) Fezouata Biota8 in southeastern Morocco, including specimens larger than any in Cambrian biotas. These giant animals were an important element of some marine communities for about 30 million years longer than previously realized. The Moroccan specimens confirm the presence of a dorsal array of flexible blades attached to a transverse rachis on the trunk segments; these blades probably functioned as gills.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Anomalocaridid specimens from the Lower Ordovician Fezouata formations.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Chen, J. Y., Ramsköld, L. & Zhou, G. Q. Evidence for monophyly and arthropod affinity of Cambrian giant predators. Science 264, 1304–1308 (1994)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Collins, D. The “evolution” of Anomalocaris and its classification in the arthropod Class Dinocarida (nov.) and Order Radiodonta (nov.). J. Paleontol. 70, 280–293 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Whittington, H. B. & Briggs, D. E. G. The largest Cambrian animal, Anomalocaris, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 309, 569–609 (1985)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Budd, G. E. A Cambrian gilled lobopod from Greenland. Nature 364, 709–711 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kühl, G., Briggs, D. E. G. & Rust, J. A great appendage arthropod with a radial mouth from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate, Germany. Science 323, 771–773 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Daley, A. C., Budd, G. E., Caron, J.-B., Edgecombe, G. D. & Collins, D. The Burgess Shale anomalocaridid Hurdia and its significance for early euarthropod evolution. Science 323, 1597–1600 (2009)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Briggs, D. E. G. & Robison, R. A. Exceptionally preserved nontrilobite arthropods and Anomalocaris from the Middle Cambrian of Utah. Univ. Kansas Paleont. Contrib. 111, 1–23 (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Van Roy, P. et al. Ordovician faunas of Burgess Shale type. Nature 465, 215–218 (2010)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Whiteaves, J. F. Description of a new genus and species of phyllocarid crustacean from the Middle Cambrian of Mount Stephen, British Columbia. Can. Rec. Sci. 5, 205–208 (1892)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Walcott, C. D. Middle Cambrian Merostomata. Cambrian geology and paleontology II. Smithson. Misc. Coll. 57, 17–40 (1911)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Walcott, C. D. Middle Cambrian Holothurians and Medusae. Cambrian geology and paleontology II. Smithson. Misc. Coll. 57, 41–68 (1911)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Walcott, C. D. Middle Cambrian Branchiopoda, Malacostraca, Trilobita, and Merostomata. Cambrian geology and paleontology II. Smithson. Misc. Coll. 57, 145–228 (1912)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Rolfe, W. D. I. Two new arthropod carapaces from the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) of Canada. Breviora 160, 1–9 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hou, X., Bergström, J. & Yang, J. Distinguishing anomalocaridids from arthropods and priapulids. Geol. J. 41, 259–269 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Chen, J., Waloszek, D. & Maas, A. A new 'great-appendage' arthropod from the Lower Cambrian of China and homology of chelicerate chelicerae and raptorial antero-ventral appendages. Lethaia 37, 3–20 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Dzik, J. & Lendzion, K. The oldest arthropods of the East European platform. Lethaia 21, 29–38 (1988)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Daley, A. C. & Budd, G. E. New anomalocaridid appendages from the Burgess Shale, Canada. Palaeontology 53, 721–738 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ponomarenko, A. G. First record of Dinocarida from Russia. Paleontol. J. 44, 503–504 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hou, X., Bergström, J. & Ahlberg, P. Anomalocaris and other large animals in the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna of southwest China. Geol. För. Förh. 117, 163–183 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Daley, A. C. & Peel, J. S. A possible anomalocaridid from the Cambrian Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, north Greenland. J. Paleontol. 84, 352–355 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Masiak, M. & Zylinska, A. Burgess Shale-type fossils in Cambrian sandstones of the Holy Cross Mountains. Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 39, 329–340 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Van Roy, P. & Tetlie, O. E. A spinose appendage fragment of a problematic arthropod from the Early Ordovician of Morocco. Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 51, 239–246 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Vinther, J., Van Roy, P. & Briggs, D. E. G. Machaeridians are Palaeozoic armoured annelids. Nature 451, 185–188 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Fortey, R. A. A new giant asaphid trilobite from the Lower Ordovician of Morocco. Mem. Assoc. Austral. Palaeontol. 37, 9–16 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Bergström, J. Opabinia and Anomalocaris, unique Cambrian ‘arthropods’. Lethaia 19, 241–246 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Bergström, J. The Cambrian Opabinia and Anomalocaris . Lethaia 20, 187–188 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Budd, G. E. & Daley, A. C. The lobes and lobopods of Opabinia regalis of the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Lethaia (in the press)

  28. Braddy, S. J., Poschmann, M. & Tetlie, O. E. Giant claw reveals the largest ever arthropod. Biol. Lett. 4, 106–109 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hahn, G., Hahn, R. A. & Brauckmann, C. Zur Kenntis von Arthropleura (Myriapoda; Ober Karbon). Geol. Paleontol. 20, 125–137 (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Servais, T., Owen, A. W., Harper, D. A. T., Kröger, B. & Munnecke, A. The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): the palaeoecological dimension. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 294, 99–119 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

S. Butts (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History) provided access to specimens. M. Ben Said Ben Moula originally discovered the specimens and made them available for study; he, together with J. P. Botting-Muir and L. A. Botting-Muir, P. J. Orr, C. Upton and J. Vinther also assisted with fieldwork, and B. Tahiri arranged logistical support. J. W. Hagadorn shared information on anomalocaridid size and R. R. Gaines discussed aspects of the taphonomy. E. Champion helped with the preparation of figures. This research was supported by a National Geographic Society Research and Exploration grant and by Yale University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, PO Box 208109, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA,

    Peter Van Roy & Derek E. G. Briggs

  2. Department of Geology and Soil Science, Research Unit Palaeontology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium,

    Peter Van Roy

  3. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, USA

    Derek E. G. Briggs

Authors
  1. Peter Van Roy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Derek E. G. Briggs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The authors contributed equally to interpreting the fossils and writing the paper. P.V.R. played the primary role in field work, and prepared, photographed and drew the specimens.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Derek E. G. Briggs.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Figures

This file contains Supplementary Figures 1-4 with legends. (PDF 11213 kb)

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Van Roy, P., Briggs, D. A giant Ordovician anomalocaridid. Nature 473, 510–513 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09920

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09920

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing