Burgessia

Name: Burgessia ‭(‬Named after Mount Burgess‭)‬.
Phonetic: Bur-jes-se-ah.
Named By: Walcott‭ ‬-‭ ‬1912.
Classification: Arthropoda.
Species: B.‭ ‬bella.
Diet: Detritivore.
Size: Carapace in larger specimens about‭ ‬12‭ ‬millimetres long.‭ ‬Total body length of largest about‭ ‬42.5‭ ‬millimetres.
Known locations: Canada,‭ ‬British Columbia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Burgess Shale Formation.
Time period: Delamaran‭ (‬513-505‭ ‬BP‭) ‬of the Cambrian.
Fossil representation: Literally thousands of individuals.

       Burgessia is a genus of arthropod that lived during the Cambrian,‭ ‬and one that looks a lot like a modern day horseshoe crab when seen from above.‭ ‬Burgessia was much smaller than a horseshoe crab however with even the largest individuals being only a little over four centimetres in length,‭ ‬and the smallest about half a centimetre from the front of the carapace to the tip of the rear spine.‭ ‬Two large antennae grew forth from under the carapace and as these were probably the primary sensory organs as so far no eye have been found on any Burgessia specimen,‭ ‬indicating that the genus was blind.‭ ‬The mouth was on the underside of the body and when the antennae‭ ‘‬tasted‭’ ‬a morsel that was edible,‭ ‬the individual Burgessia called walk on top of the food and begin eating.‭ ‬The presence of mud in the gut of some Burgessia specimens has led to‭ ‬the theory that Burgessia may have routinely eaten mud,‭ ‬digesting the organic parts,‭ ‬and passing out the inorganic,‭ ‬though most researchers also‭ ‬recognise that this could simply be a case of mud sediments entering the body after death.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community,‭ ‬Burgess Shale.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PALAIOS‭ ‬21‭ (‬5‭)‬:‭ ‬451‭–‬65.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Jean-Bernard Caron‭ & ‬Donald A.‭ ‬Jackson.‭



----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Random favourites