Hurdia victoria的重建结构。由Marianne Collins于2008年所画。来源：《科学》
据3月20日的《科学》杂志报道说，大约在5亿4000年到5亿年前，一种叫做Hurdia 的节肢动物及其近亲在寒武纪的海洋中占据着统治的地位，它们的体型长得要比其它生物更大，可能还猎食了许多其它的生物。
通过分析了数百个寒武纪的化石（其中包括某些新近才从一个博物馆中获得的材料）之后，研究人员现在已经拼接出了一幅较为清晰的Hurdia 的图像以及它在其它奇虾类系谱图中的位置。该种动物的相对较大的体型及其多齿的口腔使得它们获得了一个绰号：“寒武纪的霸王龙” Hurdia 是加拿大Burgess Shale化石带中最常见的奇虾类动物，但其在早期节肢动物进化中的意义的许多方面仍然不为人知，因为其许多部位的分类在横跨至少8个属中都是不正确的。
新的分析澄清了Hurdia 的身体特征以及它们与其它奇虾类动物的异同点。 Hurdia 的引人注目的大头甲可能是独特的，它的腮部结构为人们了解节肢动物的肢体和呼吸器官的起源提供了线索。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Science 20 March 2009:DOI: 10.1126/science.1169514
The Burgess Shale Anomalocaridid Hurdia and Its Significance for Early Euarthropod Evolution
Allison C. Daley,1* Graham E. Budd,1 Jean-Bernard Caron,2 Gregory D. Edgecombe,3 Desmond Collins4
As the largest predators of the Cambrian seas, the anomalocaridids had an important impact in structuring the first complex marine animal communities, but many aspects of anomalocaridid morphology, diversity, ecology, and affinity remain unclear owing to a paucity of specimens. Here we describe the anomalocaridid Hurdia, based on several hundred specimens from the Burgess Shale in Canada. Hurdia possesses a general body architecture similar to those of Anomalocaris and Laggania, including the presence of exceptionally well-preserved gills, but differs from those anomalocaridids by possessing a prominent anterior carapace structure. These features amplify and clarify the diversity of known anomalocaridid morphology and provide insight into the origins of important arthropod features, such as the head shield and respiratory exites.
1 Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villav?gen 16, Uppsala SE-752 36, Sweden.
2 Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto M5S 2C6, Canada.
3 Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
4 437 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto M6R 3B9, Canada.
