Description

Waptia fieldensis, Marrella splendens
Middle Cambrian
Burgess Shale, Stephens Formation
Field, British Columbia, BC, Canada.

60mm Waptia and two 17mm Marrellas on 85mm slab. Ridiculously rare association.

Waptia is an extinct genus of arthropod that is shrimp-like in form but it is different enough that it hasn’t been classified within any family of crustacean nor any family of arthropods for that matter – another unsolved mystery of the Burgess Shale over 100 years after its discovery.  It does appear to be at least related to the ancestors of crustaceans.