Description

Unusuropode castroi Duarte & Santos, 1962

Cretaceous

Gara Sbaa Member, Akrabou Formation

Gara Sbaa, Morocco

9mm positive marine isopod.

Crustacean,

Isopods belong to an order of crustaceans that dates back to the Carboniferous Period – first-known from the Mazon Creek fauna – but are uncommon overall in the fossil record.  Biologists have studied modern ones the size of a lobster from the depths of the ocean.  Most are small like the “pill bugs” you found in your grandparents’ garden.