Opabiniidae Temporal range: Middle Cambrian - Middle Ordovician,
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Opabinia (top) and Utaurora (bottom) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | †Dinocaridida |
Family: | †Opabiniidae Walcott, 1912 |
Genera | |
Opabiniidae is an extinct family of marine stem-arthropods.[1] Its type and best-known genus is Opabinia. It also contains Utaurora, and Mieridduryn. Opabiniids closely resemble radiodonts, but their frontal appendages were basally fused into a proboscis. Opabiniids also distinguishable from radiodonts by setal blades covering at least part of the body flaps and serrated caudal rami.[2]