A bradoriid arthropod from the Wuliuan (middle Cambrian) of North Greenland turns phosphatocopid

 

Authors: Streng M, Peel JS

Article in press: Received 28 April 2026; Accepted in revised form 30 June 2026; Online 16 August 2026

Keywords: Phosphatocopida, Bradoriida, Liangshanella, Comleyopsis, middle Cambrian, Wuliuan, North Greenland,

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Abstract

The bradoriid Liangshanella? qassutit Peel, 2025 from the middle Cambrian (Wuliuan Stage; Ptychagnostus gibbus Biozone) upper Henson Gletscher Formation of North Greenland is recognized as a phosphatocopid. Reinvestigation of the only known specimen revealed the presence of a doublure and an interdorsum denoting its phosphatocopid affinity. The broad, lens-shaped interdorsum indicates correspondence with the genus Comleyopsis Hinz, 1993 of the family Hesslandonidae Müller, 1964 and the taxon is accordingly re-described as Comleyopsis qassutit (Peel, 2025) comb. nov. The species from North Greenland is most similar with the contemporary Comleyopsis iecta Hinz-Schallreuter & Koppka, 1996 from northern Germany and the two species represent the youngest occurrences of the genus. A single phosphatocopid specimen illustrated as Hesslandona sp. by Zhang & Pratt, 2012 from the early Cambrian of China has an interdorsum characteristic for Comleyopsis and is interpreted to represent a new, yet undescribed species of the genus. The Chinese specimen represents the oldest occurrence of the genus.