Occacaris

Name: Occacaris.
Phonetic: Oc-ca-cah-ris.
Named By: Hou‭ ‬-‭ ‬1999.
Classification: Arthropoda,‭ ‬Megacheira,‭ ‬Pectocaridida,‭ ‬Occacarididae.
Species: O.‭ ‬oviformis‭ (‬type‭).
Diet: Carnivore/Detritivore‭?
Size: Roughly about‭ ‬15‭ ‬millimetres long.‭ ‬Carapace about‭ ‬8‭ ‬millimetres long,‭ ‬6‭ ‬millimetres high.
Known locations: China‭ ‬-‭ ‬Maotianshan shale.
Time period: Cambrian.
Fossil representation: Preserved flat on slab.

       Occacaris is a genus of bivalved arthropod that lived in the seas of what is now China during the Cambrian.‭ ‬Occacaris is known as a bivalved arthropod because of the main shell that was formed out of two pieces that hung across the main body.‭ ‬Two appendages with upward facing spines projected from the front.‭ ‬These may have been used to seize either small creatures‭ ‬or morsels of organic matter,‭ ‬either from the water or sifted through‭ ‬the sediment.

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