Fuxianhuiids

Abstract:

The fuxianhuiids — of which there are eight species described so far —are a clade of extinct soft-bodied euarthropods (colloquially: arthropods) that are known
from early Cambrian marine deposits in South China (Figure 1). They are widely
regarded as distant relatives of extant euarthropod groups — namely arachnids,
myriapods, crustaceans and insects. The exceptional preservation of their fossils
has provided unique information on their morphology (Figure 2). Fuxianhuiids
have contributed towards a better understanding of the early evolutionary
radiation of euarthropods —the most successful animal phylum in the history
of life on Earth — and led to a detailed reconstruction of the origin of the
euarthropod body plan.