# Kodymirus > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kodymirus > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kodymirus.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodymirus > Source revision: 1334467642 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Extinct genus of arthropods}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = [Cambrian Series 2](/source/Cambrian_Series_2) {{Fossil range|521|509}} | image = Kodymirus_Reconstruction.jpg | image_caption = Artist's restoration | display_parents = 3 | parent_authority = Chlupáč & Havlíček, 1965 | taxon = Kodymirus vagans | authority = Chlupáč & Havlíček, 1965 }} '''''Kodymirus''''' is an extinct genus of Early [Cambrian](/source/Cambrian) [arthropod](/source/arthropod), known from the [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic). Although it possessed [great appendage](/source/great_appendage)-like raptorial arms, it was not homologous with those of [megacheirans](/source/Megacheira). ''Kodymirus'' is currently considered a member of [Vicissicaudata](/source/Vicissicaudata), closely related to [aglaspidids](/source/Aglaspidida), and more distantly to [trilobites](/source/Trilobite). It is part of a small and low-diversity [Paseky Shale](/source/Paseky_Shale) fauna group, which dwelt in brackish waters.{{Cite journal |author=Chlupáč |first=I |title=Lower Cambrian arthropods from the Paseky Shale (Barrandian area, Czech Republic) |url=http://www.jgeosci.org/detail/JCGS.694 |journal=[Journal of the Czech Geological Society](/source/Journal_of_the_Czech_Geological_Society) |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=9–36 |accessdate=2009-06-06}} == Description == ''Kodymirus'' was a small predator at {{Convert|80|mm|in|abbr=on}} long. Its distinctive feature is pair of large, serrated [raptorial](/source/raptorial) appendages. These appendages appear [convergent](/source/Convergent_evolution) to those of [megacheirans](/source/Megacheira) and [radiodonts](/source/Radiodonta), but are not homologous as they postantennular, suggesting raptorial arms evolved multiple times in Cambrian arthropods.{{Cite journal |last=Lamsdell |first=James C. |last2=Stein |first2=Martin |last3=Selden |first3=Paul A. |date=2013-09-01 |title=Kodymirus and the case for convergence of raptorial appendages in Cambrian arthropods |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1081-y |journal=Naturwissenschaften |language=en |volume=100 |issue=9 |pages=811–825 |doi=10.1007/s00114-013-1081-y |issn=1432-1904|url-access=subscription }} == Paleoecology == thumb|left|200 px|Restoration of ''Kodymirus vagans'' hunting prey in brackish waters ''Kodymirus'' inhabited the [Paseky Shale](/source/Paseky_Shale), within the modern day Czech Republic, which may be a shallow marine environment or brackish [estuary](/source/estuary).{{Cite journal |date=2018 |title=Ichnotaxonomy of the Cambrian Spence Shale Member of the Langston formation, Wellsville Mountains, Northern Utah, USA |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17161/1808.26428 |journal=Paleontological Contributions |doi=10.17161/1808.26428 |issn=1946-0279|doi-access=free |hdl=1808/26428 |hdl-access=free }} Trace fossils from the Shale have been interpreted as ''Kodymirus'' raking its claws along the sediment while swimming, disturbing benthic prey buried beneath the muck. This would make ''Kodymirus'' the earliest known arthropod predator in the [intertidal zone](/source/intertidal_zone). == Taxonomy == ''Kodymirus'' was previously considered an [enigmatic](/source/Incertae_sedis) arthropod, and its precise taxonomic affinity remained uncertain. It was initially believed to be an early [eurypterid](/source/eurypterid) and later a [megacheiran](/source/Megacheira). ''Kodymirus'' is currently been placed within the clade [Vicissicaudata](/source/Vicissicaudata), a subgroup of [Artiopoda](/source/Artiopoda), the clade containing [trilobites](/source/trilobites) and their close relatives. Within Vicissicaudata, it is generally considered closely related to the order [Aglaspidida](/source/Aglaspidida).{{Cite journal |last1=Lerosey-Aubril |first1=Rudy |last2=Zhu |first2=Xuejian |last3=Ortega-Hernández |first3=Javier |date=2017-09-11 |title=The Vicissicaudata revisited – insights from a new aglaspidid arthropod with caudal appendages from the Furongian of China |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=11117 |bibcode=2017NatSR...711117L |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-11610-5 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5593897 |pmid=28894246}} Its basipods closely resembles those of the vicissicaudatan ''[Emeraldella](/source/Emeraldella).'' Cladogram after McCoy et al. 2025:{{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|doi-access=free }} {{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](/source/Carimersa_neptuni)'' |6='''''Kodymirus vagans''''' 70px |7=''[Eozetetes gemelli](/source/Eozetetes)'' |8=[Aglaspidida](/source/Aglaspidida) 100px }} }}|label1=}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Artiopoda}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1778244}} Category:Artiopoda Category:Fossils of the Czech Republic Category:Cambrian genus extinctions Category:Monotypic artiopod genera --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kodymirus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodymirus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodymirus?action=history)). 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