Brain anatomy of the Cambrian fossil Jianfengia multisegmentalis informs euarthropod phylogeny

Nicholas J. Strausfeld (), David R. Andrew (), Xianguang Hou () and Frank Hirth ()
Additional contact information
Nicholas J. Strausfeld: University of Arizona
David R. Andrew: Lycoming College
Xianguang Hou: Yunnan University
Frank Hirth: King’s College London

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Cambrian fossils from the Chengjiang biota demonstrate that over half a billion years ago early stem euarthropods existed coevally with representatives of already recognizable crown groups. Prominent stem taxa were Fuxianhuia protensa and Alalcomenaeus whose cerebral and ganglionic traits identify them as, respectively, stem mandibulates and stem chelicerates. Here we report on the visual systems and brain of the enigmatic lower Cambrian euarthropod Jianfengia multisegmentalis, which reveals neural traits suggestive of Pancrustacea despite its possession of ‘great appendages’. As occur in pancrustaceans, three nested optic neuropils are resolved in the eyestalks of Jianfengia, together with rostral ocelli and their associated nerves supplying a discrete forebrain region. Sutured eyestalks typifying crown Malacostraca provide compound eyes populated by ommatidia revealing structures suggesting cone-building cells. These and other neuroanatomical traits provide a powerful tool for resolving euarthropod relationships. Phylogenetic analyses deploying neural traits of Jianfengia, other Cambrian taxa, and extant Euarthropoda elucidate the status of Jianfengia as sister to total Mandibulata and reveal the short-bodied ‘great appendage’ Leanchoiliidae as sister to total Chelicerata. Together these data provide independent evidence for a 23 year-old proposition that ‘great appendage’ morphology defines the early stem from which derived the two branches of the euarthropod tree of life.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62849-w Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-62849-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62849-w

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().