Cetiocaridae


Cetiocaridae is a clade of radiodont, an extinct stem-group arthropods. The group was named after the Bearded Ceticaris in the speculative paleoart book All Your Yesterdays by John Meszaros. In later studies the group was renamed as a radiodont family Tamisiocarididae.

Description

Like most radiodonts, cetiocarids have spiny frontal appendages, but in this family the auxiliary spines are fine and densely-arranged, which are modified for use in filter feeding like modern basking sharks and mysticete whales. For example, Tamisocaris is estimated to have fed on prey roughly a millimeter in size.

Classification

Cetiocaridae is defined phylogenetically as all species more closely related to Tamisiocaris borealis than to Anomalocaris canadensis, Amplectobelua symbrachiata, or Hurdia victoria. Morphologically, the clade is diagnosed by having long, slender, recurved ventral spines on the frontal appendages possessing numerous auxiliary spines on both sides.