# Carimersa

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{{Short description|Extinct genus of artiopodan}}
{{automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Homerian
| image = Carimersa.jpg
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Carimersa
| authority = Briggs et al. 2023
| type_species = Carimersa neptuni
| type_species_authority = Briggs et al. 2023
}}
'''''Carimersa''''' is an extinct genus of [artiopoda](/source/artiopoda)n arthropod known from the [Silurian](/source/Silurian) [Coalbrookdale Formation](/source/Coalbrookdale_Formation) of Herefordshire, England.

== Description ==
The body is flattened, and divided into the head with five pairs of paired appendages, the trunk with 10 appendage-bearing segments, a limbless abdomen with 4 segments, with the body terminating with tailspine. The total length of the body excluding the tailspine is around {{Convert|3|cm|in}}, with a max width of about {{Convert|1.25|cm|in}}. The first [antennae](/source/Antenna_(biology))-like head appendage bears three flagellae-like structures. The second and third head appendages are [uniramous](/source/uniramous) and have basipods (basal segments) modified into spined [gnathobases](/source/gnathobases) (used to process food). The last two head appendages and the trunk limbs are [biramous](/source/biramous), and have robust [endopods](/source/Endopod) that bear spines, with the [exopods](/source/Exopod) being flap-like and reinforced by a rod-like structure.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Briggs |first1=Derek E. G. |last2=Siveter |first2=David J. |last3=Siveter |first3=Derek J. |last4=Sutton |first4=Mark D. |last5=Legg |first5=David |last6=Lamsdell |first6=James C. |date=August 2023 |title=A vicissicaudatan arthropod from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte, UK |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=10 |issue=8 |doi=10.1098/rsos.230661  |doi-access=free|issn=2054-5703 |pmc=10394423 |pmid=37538743|bibcode=2023RSOS...1030661B }}</ref>

== Ecology ==
[[File:Carimersa And Colymbosathon.png|thumb|upright|left|Life reconstruction of a Carimersa neptuni hunting [Colymbosathon ecplecticos](/source/Colymbosathon_ecplecticos)]]
''Carimersa'' was likely an actively swimming organism that probably swam close to the sediment surface. The presence of associated shelly microfossils of [radiolarians](/source/Radiolaria) and [gastropods](/source/Gastropoda) suggests that it may have been a [microdurophagous](/source/Durophagous) predator, using the spines on its limb endopods to capture prey and move it towards the mouth, where it would be processed by the gnathobases on the second and third head appendages before being ingested.<ref name=":0" />

== Taxonomy ==
''Carimersa'' has been placed as a member of Vicissicaudata within [Artiopoda](/source/Artiopoda), more closely related to [Aglaspidida](/source/Aglaspidida), ''[Kodymirus](/source/Kodymirus)'' and ''[Eozetetes](/source/Eozetetes)'' than to [Cheloniellida](/source/Cheloniellida), ''[Sidneyia](/source/Sidneyia)'' or ''[Emeraldella](/source/Emeraldella)''.<ref name=":0" /> Cladogram after McCoy et al. 2025:<ref name="tardisia2">{{cite journal |last1=McCoy |first1=Victoria E. |last2=Herrera |first2=Fabiany |last3=Wittry |first3=Jack |last4=Mayer |first4=Paul |last5=Lamsdell |first5=James C. |date=2025 |title=A possible vicissicaudatan arthropod from the Late Carboniferous Mazon Creek Lagerstätte |journal=Geological Magazine |volume=162 |doi=10.1017/S001675682400044X|bibcode=2025GeoM..162E...3M |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{Clade|{{clade
   |label1=[Vicissicaudata](/source/Vicissicaudata)
   |1={{Clade sequential
      |1=''[Molaria spinifera](/source/Molaria_spinifera)'' 70px
      |2=''[Emeraldella brocki](/source/Emeraldella_brocki)''
      |3=''[Emeraldella brutoni](/source/Emeraldella_brutoni)'' 100px
      |4={{Clade sequential
         |1=''[Sidneyia inexpectans](/source/Sidneyia_inexpectans)'' 100px
         |2=''[Tardisia broedeae](/source/Tardisia)''
         |3=[Cheloniellida](/source/Cheloniellida)  150px
         }}
      |5='''''Carimersa neptuni'''''
      |6=''[Kodymirus vagans](/source/Kodymirus_vagans)'' 70px
      |7=''[Eozetetes gemelli](/source/Eozetetes)''
      |8=[Aglaspidida](/source/Aglaspidida) 100px
}} }}|label1=}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q121358657}}

Category:Artiopoda
Category:Monotypic artiopod genera
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2023
Category:Silurian arthropods of Europe

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Carimersa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carimersa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carimersa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.