January 7, 2019
The pancrustaceans are the most diverse animal group to ever exist, and include familiar kinds of arthropods such as crustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs, lobsters) and six-legged insects. A new study by Prof. Javier Ortega-Hernández and Joanna Wolfe (Research Associate, Ortega-Hernández Lab), in collaboration with colleagues at Yunnan University in Kunming, illuminate details on the evolution of these successful invertebrates. The findings, published in Current Biology, reveal delicate details of the head and trunk limbs, such as antennae, mandibles and epipodites (gill-like structures on the legs) of the shrimp-like fossil Ercaicunia multinodosa, which are diagnostic features observed in modern pancrustaceans.