Description

Unusuropode castroi Duarte & Santos, 1962
Cretaceous
Gara Sbaa Member, Akrabou Formation
Gara Sbaa, Morocco

14mm 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 deepwater representatives the size of a lobster but most are small like the “pill bugs” you found in your grandparents’ garden.