Leanchoilia

Name: Leanchoilia.
Phonetic: Le-an-choy-le-ah.
Named By: Charles Doolittle Walcott‭ ‬-‭ ‬1912.
Classification: Arthropoda,‭ ‬Megacheira,‭ ‬Leanchoilida,‭ ‬Leanchoiliidae.
Species: L.‭ ‬superlata‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬persephone‭?‬.
Diet: Carnivore‭?
Size: Roughly about‭ ‬5‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: Canada,‭ ‬British Columbia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Burgess Shale.‭ ‬China‭ ‬-‭ ‬Yuanshan Formation.
Time period: Cambrian.
Fossil representation: Multiple specimens.

       Leanchoilia is a genus of Cambrian era arthropod that lived in the Cambrian seas of both Canada and China.‭ ‬Leanchoilia had a shelled segmented body with short appendages that grew from underneath.‭ ‬These appendages likely served as the anchor points for gills that would have extracted oxygen from the water.‭ ‬The eyes of Leanchoilia were on the‭ ‬end of stalks that grew out from the head,‭ ‬and two larger appendages that grew from the underside of the head had three small tentacle like feelers upon the end.‭ ‬These appendages were almost certainly the primary food gathering apparatus,‭ ‬either snatching smaller organisms as they swam through the water,‭ ‬or feeling around for particles of organic matter.
       At the time of writing there are two named species of Leanchoilia,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬superlata and L.‭ ‬persephone.‭ ‬However a‭ ‬2007‭ ‬study by Garc�a-Bellido‭ & ‬Collins has questioned the establishment of two species,‭ ‬suggesting that the differences between them are simply sexual dimorphism,‭ ‬meaning that the two species merely represent males and females of just one species.‭ ‬If this interpretation is correct,‭ ‬then only the type species of Leanchoilia,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬superlata would be valid.
       Leanchoilia has a noted similarity to the genus Yawunik,‭ ‬and indeed both genera are classed as leanchoiliid arthropods.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Leanchoilia guts and the interpretation of three-dimensional structures in Burgess Shale-type fossils.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Paleobiology‭ (‬journal‭) ‬28‭ (‬1‭)‬:‭ ‬155‭–‬171.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nicholas J.‭ ‬Butterfield‭ ‬-‭ ‬2002.
-‭ ‬Reassessment of the genus Leanchoilia‭ (‬Arthropoda,‭ ‬Arachnomorpha‭) ‬from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale,‭ ‬British Columbia,‭ ‬Canada.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Palaeontology‭ ‬50‭ (‬3‭)‬:‭ ‬693‭–‬709.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Diego C.‭ ‬Garc�a-Bellido‭ & ‬Desmond Collins‭ ‬-‭ ‬2007.
-‭ ‬The eyes of Leanchoilia.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Lethaia‭ ‬45‭ (‬4‭)‬:‭ ‬524‭–‬531.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Brigitte Schoenemann‭ & ‬Euan N.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Clarkson‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.



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