Virtual Palaeontology of Chengjiang Arthropods

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Roland Melzer
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Systematics and Morphology (Zoology)
• Term: from 2019 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410561778

• Final Report Year: 2023

Final Report Abstract

The ca 85 species of arthropods found in the Chengjiang fossil record represent a treasure cove for the understanding of early Cambrian seas and arthropod evolution in general. The project set out to implement modern techniques (e. g., microcomputed tomography) and advanced 3D computer techniques to deepen knowledge about these arthropod’s phylogeny and functional ecology. The objectives of the project have been achieved, previously unknown features of ventral appendages and head region unveiled, the accuracy of known sets of characters deepened and more extended phylogenetic trees established using various programs in the framework of a virtual 3D palaeontology including also novel elements, i.e., range of motion analyses and 3D kinematics. In six „core“ publications in high-ranked international journals, Ercaicunia multinodosa, Jianfengia multisegmentalis, Leanchoilia illecebrosa, Leanchoilia obesa, Naraoia spinosa, Pygmaclypeatus daziensis, Retifacies abnormalis and Sinoburius lunaris were analysed. Furthermore, an additional, „spin-off“ cooperation was established using ROM analyses and 3D kinematics to study the appendages of eurypterids as compared to extant arthropods with similar appendages. These activities resulted in four additional papers. Our approach is continued and expanded in the framework of the MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment with the aim to study all available Chengjiang arthropods using our novel approach.

Publications

• Moving legs: A workflow on how to generate a flexible endopod of the 518 million‐year‐old Chengjiang arthropodErcaicunia multinodosausing3D‐kinematics (Cambrian, China). Microscopy Research and Technique, 84(4), 695-704.
  Schmidt, Michel; Liu, Yu; Zhai, Dayou; Hou, Xianguang & Melzer, Roland R.
  
• Exites in Cambrian arthropods and homology of arthropod limb branches. Nature Communications, 12(1).
  Liu, Yu; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Schmidt, Michel; Bond, Andrew D.; Melzer, Roland R.; Zhai, Dayou; Mai, Huijuan; Zhang, Maoyin & Hou, Xianguang
  
• EXPLORING ANOMALOCARIS RAPTORIAL APPENDAGES WITH 3D KINEMATICS. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Geological Society of America.
  Bicknell, Russell; Schmidt, Michel; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Daley, Allison C.; Melzer, Roland R.; Wroe, Stephen & Paterson, John R.
  
• Intraspecific variation in the Cambrian: new observations on the morphology of the Chengjiang euarthropod Sinoburius lunaris. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 21(1).
  Schmidt, Michel; Liu, Yu; Hou, Xianguang; Haug, Joachim T.; Haug, Carolin; Mai, Huijan & Melzer, Roland R.
  
• Kinematics of whip spider pedipalps: a 3D comparative morpho‐functional approach. Integrative Zoology, 17(1), 156-167.
  SCHMIDT, Michel; MELZER, Roland R. & BICKNELL, Russell D. C.
  
• Retifacies abnormalis, a Cambrian Euarthropod With Detailed Ventral Morphology In The Light Of Computed Tomography. Conference Abstract, 3rd Palaeontological Virtual Congress.
  Zhang M., Liu Y., Hou X., Ortega-Hernández J., Mai H., Schmidt M., Melzer R.R. & Guo J.
  
• Three-dimensional kinematics of euchelicerate limbs uncover functional specialization in eurypterid appendages. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 135(1), 174-183.
  Bicknell, Russell D. C.; Melzer, Roland R. & Schmidt, Michel
  
• A SOLUTION TO THE INVERSE “T. REX PROBLEM” IN PTERYGOTID EURYPTERIDS. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Geological Society of America.
  Plotnick, Roy; Bicknell, Russell; Schmidt, Michel; Melzer, Roland R. & Kenny, Katrina
  
• Before trilobite legs:Pygmaclypeatus daziensisreconsidered and the ancestral appendicular organization of Cambrian artiopods. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377(1847).
  Schmidt, Michel; Hou, Xianguang; Zhai, Dayou; Mai, Huijuan; Belojević, Jelena; Chen, Xiaohan; Melzer, Roland R.; Ortega-Hernández, Javier & Liu, Yu
  
• Spines and baskets in apex predatory sea scorpions uncover unique feeding strategies using 3D-kinematics. iScience, 25(1), 103662.
  Schmidt, Michel; Melzer, Roland R.; Plotnick, Roy E. & Bicknell, Russell D.C.
  
• Ventral Morphology of the Non-Trilobite Artiopod Retifacies abnormalis Hou, Chen & Lu, 1989, from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, China. Biology, 11(8), 1235.
  Zhang, Maoyin; Liu, Yu; Hou, Xianguang; Ortega-Hernández, Javier; Mai, Huijuan; Schmidt, Michel; Melzer, Roland R. & Guo, Jin
  
• Ventral organization of Jianfengia multisegmentalis Hou, and its implications for the head segmentation of megacheirans. Palaeontology, 65(5).
  Zhang, Xilin; Liu, Yu; O.'Flynn, Robert J.; Schmidt, Michel; Melzer, Roland R.; Hou, Xianguang; Mai, Huijuan; Guo, Jin; Yu, Mengxiao & Ortega‐Hernández, Javier
  
• Virtual Paleontology in Ancient Seas: A three-dimensional voyage through morphology and kinematics of early Palaeozoic marine arthropods. Dissertation, LMU Munich.
  Schmidt M.
  
• Raptorial appendages of the Cambrian apex predatorAnomalocaris canadensisare built for soft prey and speed. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290.
  Bicknell, Russell D. C.; Schmidt, Michel; Rahman, Imran A.; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Gutarra, Susana; Daley, Allison C.; Melzer, Roland R.; Wroe, Stephen & Paterson, John R.