SEM morphological study of the Late Triassic clam shrimp Shipingia hebaozhaiensis (Spinicaudata, Crustacea) from Yunnan, southwestern China

Abstract

A re-examination of the holotype of the Norian (Late Triassic) clam shrimp type species Shipingia hebaozhaiensis Shen in Zhang et al., 1976 has revealed that small and large sized reticulations are irregularly arranged in the dorsal part of the carapace. In the middle part of the carapace, large sized reticulations are located in the upper part, and small sized reticulations in the lower part of each growth band. Growth bands in the ventral part of the carapace have only small sized reticulations. This ornamentation pattern is different from that of the other Norian zonal species from North America and western Europe.