Waukesha butterfly animal

The butterfly animal is an enigmatic arthropod from the middle Silurian (Telychian-Sheinwoodian) Waukesha Lagerstätte in Wisconsin.[1] Very few papers have been published on the creature, and it seems to have no scientific description or name given to it. The current consensus is that it is an arthropod of unknown affinities, with a bivalve-like carapace. According to a paper on the biota, the animal has some resemblance to Phyllocarid crustaceans, but the resemblance may be only superficial.[2]

Description

The creature has an elongated body, and two wing-like extensions extending from both sides of the main body. Smaller specimens reach a length of 10-20mm long while the larger ones have a width of 20 cm.[2] They rarely preserve well, and are "the weirdest organism of the biota".[2] A caption underneath an image of the animal states "a bizarre arthropod with possible bivalved carapace, UW4001/5, dorsal view".[2] Although it bears a superficial resemblance to a sea angel, it is not related to gastropods. Whether the wing-like extensions flapped like wings or were a shield protecting the arthropod's body is uncertain. Being one of the most common animals of the biota, it was probably a prey animal to some of the larger arthropods like Parioscorpio.[3]

Classification

Despite its name, the butterfly animal is not actually a butterfly, as those insects would not evolve for another 405 million years. The fact that it has a bivalved carapace could indicate that it is related to crustaceans like ostracods, although carapaces like this have not only evolved separately in Crustacea, but in a variety of other arthropods. Another hypothesis is that it is related to the crustacean group Phyllocarida, however the similarities might just be coincidental.[2]

Paleoecology

The environment of the butterfly animal was a marine ecosystem full of unusual life. Unlike other Silurian aged deposits, the Waukesha Biota preserves more rare and unique animals in exquisite detail, such as conodonts, conularriids, phyllocarids, primitive horseshoe crabs,[4] early leeches, and unusual arthropods like Parioscorpio, the thylacocephalan Thylacares and even a possible radiodont.[5]

References
  1. Wendruff, Andrew J.; Babcock, Loren E.; Kluessendorf, Joanne; Mikulic, Donald G. (2016). "The Waukesha biota; an unusual glimpse of life on a Silurian carbonate platform". Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America. doi:10.1130/abs/2016NC-275201.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. D. G. Mikulic; D. E. G. Briggs; Joanne Kluessendorf (17 October 1985). "A new exceptionally preserved biota from the Lower Silurian of Wisconsin, U.S.A." jstor.org. Royal Society.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "Stranger than a scorpion: a reassessment of Parioscorpio venator, a problematic arthropod from the Llandoverian Waukesha Lagerstätte". Retrieved 5 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Rachel A. Moore; Derek E. G. Briggs; Simon J. Braddy; Lyall I. Anderson; Donald G. Mikulic; Joanne Kluessendorf (20 May 2016). "A new synziphosurine (Chelicerata: Xiphosura) from the Late Llandovery (Silurian) Waukesha Lagerstätte, Wisconsin, USA". Cambridge University Press.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Wendruff, Andrew J.; Babcock, Loren E.; Kluessendorf, Joanne; Mikulic, Donald G. (2020). "Paleobiology and taphonomy of exceptionally preserved organisms from the Waukesha Biota (Silurian), Wisconsin, USA". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 546: 109631. Bibcode:2020PPP...546j9631W. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109631. S2CID 212824469.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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