寒武纪澄江化石库中叶足动物起源与演化浅析

The origin and evolution of Cambrian lobopodians of Chengjiang fauna

叶足动物是寒武纪海洋中非常特殊的类群,它们因为具有柔软的叶片状附肢而得名,而这柔软的叶片状附肢正是地球历史上的"第一对腿"。这对腿的出现,使地球进入了全新的"步行"时代,并且继而开启了地球上最大优势类群节肢动物的演化之门,其重要性不言而喻。笔者以澄江化石库中的叶足动物为主线,浅析寒武纪叶足动物的起源和演化。

Lobopodians is a very special group of Cambrian sea. They got their name lobopodians because they bear very soft, lobe-like limbs. Even though this kind of lobe-like limbs is simple, they are“the first pair of limbs”on the Earth. The occurrence of the limbs not only brings the animals into“walking age”, but also opens an evolutionary door for arthropod, which is the most dominant and successful phylum on the Earth. Thus, the significance of lobopodians is self-evident. In this article, we summarized the origin of evolution of Cambrian lobopodians according to the research of lobopodians from Chengjiang fauna, China.