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485 / Paleozoic
Fuxianhuia
Fuxianhuia protensa
Its nervous, circulatory and limb anatomy makes it central to studies of early arthropod organization.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 518 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Cambrian
- Geographic range
- Warm shallow shelf · Yunnan, China
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Fuxianhuia?
Fuxianhuia (Fuxianhuia protensa) was an extinct organism known from About 518 million years ago, with a range in Warm shallow shelf · Yunnan, China.
Life and ecology
It crawled or swam briefly above the seafloor, using preoral appendages and legs to handle food.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Fuxianhuia disappear?
Cambrian arthropods continued to radiate, but a younger fauna does not by itself show that they replaced this genus.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Fuxianhuia?
Chengjiang fossils preserve armor, limbs and rare soft organs, though some interpretations remain cautious.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS