RT Journal Article
T1 The giant emucaridid Tafilocaris ordovicica gen. et sp. nov. (Euarthropoda, Nektaspida), a peri-Gondwanan ‘Cambrian’ survivor in the Upper Ordovician Tafilalt Biota of Morocco
A1 García Bellido, Diego
A1 Gutiérrez Marco, Juan Carlos
AB Emucaridids are small, non-biomineralised, nektaspid trilobitomorph arthropods so far only known for the Cambrian. Their bodies are made up of a cephalic shield, a small number of thoracic segments and an elongate pygidium, larger than the cephalon. Here we describe a new emucaridid, Tafilocaris ordovicica gen. et sp. nov. from the early Late Ordovician (Sandbian 1), Bou Nemrou locality (Jbel Tijarfaïouine) of the Tafilalt Lagerstäte of Morocco. The two specimens of this new fossil arthropod are preserved in medium-grained sandstones and are about 150 mm long and 100 mm wide, making it almost twice the size of the largest nektaspid known to date, Naraoia magna from the Burgess Shale (British Columbia), and 5–25 times larger than other species in the Family Emucarididae. This concurs with observations made in other high palaeolatitude Ordovician taxa, where polar gigantism has been described in some radiodonts, trilobites and palaescolecid worms from different Ordovician biotas of Morocco and Portugal. The stratigraphical range of the new taxon is also compared with other Nektaspida of Cambrian and Ordovician age and reveals the survival of the Family Emucarididae beyond the Cambrian, and its expansion from Eastern Gondwanan and South China tropical waters to Southwestern Gondwanan polar environments.
PB Elsevier
SN 1342-937X
YR 2025
FD 2025-02
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/126258
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/126258
LA eng
NO García-Bellido, D. C., & Gutiérrez-Marco, J. C. (2026). The giant emucaridid Tafilocaris ordovicica gen. Et sp. Nov. (Euarthropoda, nektaspida), a peri-Gondwanan ‘Cambrian’ survivor in the Upper Ordovician Tafilalt Biota of Morocco. Gondwana Research, 150, 419-427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2025.10.005
NO Australian Research Council Discovery Project
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
NO IUGS-UNESCO
DS Docta Complutense
RD 30 dic 2025