Rare Devonian Phyllocarid (Rhinocaris) - Ohio

This is a rare, fossil Phyllocarid (Rhinocaris ehlersi) from the Silica Formation in Ohio. It's 2.8" long and associated with a brachiopod fossil. Fossil phyllocarids are very unusual from this location, in fact this is only the second specimen that I've had. Comes in a riker mount display case. An old paper describing them can be found at the link below.

Phyllocarid Crustaceans from the Middle Devonian Silica Shale of Northwestern Ohio and Southeastern Michigan

Phyllocarids are a type of arthropod that developed during the Cambrian. They had a hard, protective shell and hinged carapace and were thought to have a life-style similar to shrimp. Exactly how they fit into arthropod the taxonomy is still under debate with it being proposed to represent a stem-lineage euarthropod or a primitive branchiopod crustacean.