Saperion is an extinct genus of trilobite-like arthropod. It lived during the late Atdabanian stage,[1] which lasted from 521 to 514 million years ago during the early part of the Cambrian Period. It was found in the Maotianshan Shales of Yunnan, China.[2] Similar to the closely-related Skioldia and Tegopelte, the head shield and trunk tergites were fused into a single plate. There are about 19 furrows indicating the original trunk segments. a small anterior sclerite articulated to the front of its head.[3] A pair of antennae and lateral eyes located ventrally behind the anterior sclerite, lateral to the hypostome.[4] Saperion reached 151 mm in length and had nearly 25 pairs of biramous limbs for walking.[5]
| Saperion Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| diagrammatic reconstruction | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| (unranked): | †Artiopoda |
| Subphylum: | †Trilobitomorpha |
| Subclass: | †Conciliterga |
| Genus: | †Saperion Hou, Ramsköld & Bergström, 1991 |
| Type species | |
| Saperion glumaceum Hou, Ramsköld & Bergström, 1991
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References
edit- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Trilobita entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ Xianguang, Hou; Ramskold, Lars; Bergstrom, Jan (October 1991). "Composition and preservation of the Chengjiang fauna -a Lower Cambrian soft-bodied biota". Zoologica Scripta. 20 (4): 395–411. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.1991.tb00303.x. ISSN 0300-3256. S2CID 85077111.
- ^ Hou, Xianguang; Bergstöm, Jan; Bergström, Jan (1997). Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils and Strata. Oslo: Scandinavian Univ. Press. ISBN 978-82-00-37693-4.
- ^ Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Ramsköld, Lars (March 1999). "Relationships of Cambrian Arachnata and the systematic position of Trilobita". Journal of Paleontology. 73 (2): 263–287. Bibcode:1999JPal...73..263E. doi:10.1017/S0022336000027761. ISSN 0022-3360. S2CID 84029615.
- ^ Nicholas J. Minter, M. Gabriela Mángano & Jean-Bernard Caron (2011). "Skimming the surface with Burgess Shale arthropod locomotion". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1733): 1613–1620. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1986. PMC 3282348. PMID 22072605.