Enigmatic Five Eyed Opabinid (?) Arthropod from Chengjiang

Description: This unusual arthropod is one from the most famous location of all Chengjiang Biota deposits, Maotianshan (Mao Tian Hill), site of the discovery of the Chengjiang Biota by Hou Xian-guang in 1984. The diversity of soft-tissue fossils is astonishing: algae, medusiforms, sponges, priapulids, annelid-like worms, echinoderms, arthropods (including trilobites), hemichordates, chordates, and the first agnathan fish make up just a small fraction of the total. Numerous problematic forms are known as well, some of which may have represented failed attempts at diversity that did not persist to the present day.

This specimen is most likely a member of one of those failed attempts. It was sent to me as an unknown, and apparently as yet undescribed, fossil. When I saw the first tiny out-of-focus photo of the specimen, I thought it might be a lobopodian similar to Luolishania. Once I had it in my hand, I could see clearly that it was an arthropod, but what type? With its FIVE EYES, the specimen looks like a member of the “great appendage arthropods” known as the opabinids after Opabinia from the Burgess Shale Fauna. It appears to lack the great appendage, however, appearing instead to have a pair of antennae. Several people to whom I have shown these photos have also suggested affinities with Anomalocaris. Whatever this enigmatic specimen is, it is certainly most unusual, a one-of-a-kind specimen, one that is sure to become a cornerstone of any collection of material from the Cambrian Explosion.

Also see: Chengjiang Biota Fauna List Chengjiang Fossils