Houcaris is an extinct genus of tamisiocaridid that lived in China during the Early to Middle Cambrian.
Description[]
Houcaris was named Anomalocaris saron by Hou, Bergström and Ahlberg in 1995, renamed Houcaris saron in 2021. Microcomputed tomography shows that the fossil once assumed anomalocaridid in origin was a tamisiocaridid in origin. The paired endites are longer than the associated podomeres and the distal auxiliary spines are furnished and slender.
This is the first occurrence of Tamisiocarididae in South China, as well s the earliest in the fossil record, dating to Cambrian Stage 3. This group is restricted to Cambrian Stage 2, spanning Laurentia and southern Gondwana within the tropics/subtropics belt. This shows that climate may have controlled species like Houcaris.
Paleobiology[]
Houcaris preferred shallow waters with an oxygenated floor.
Other Wikis[]
https://prehistoric-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Houcaris
References[]
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-020-00545-4