A NEW EARLY CAMBRIAN ONYCHOPHORAN-LIKE ANIMAL, PAUCIPODIA GEN-NOV, FROM THE CHENGJIANG FAUNA, CHINA

An onychophoran-like fossil animal, Paucipodia inermis gen. et sp. nov ., is described from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang lagerstatte in Yunn an, China. The animal was soft-bodied, and possessed six pairs of unjo inted legs, each having two claws distally. The body was finely annula ted, lacked trunk plates, and apparently terminated posteriorly with t he last leg pair, without preserved evidence of a posterior trunk exte nsion. Paucipodia widens the morphological range hitherto known in Cam brian lobopodians, notably regarding leg number and presence or absenc e of plates. Its morphology also provides support for the recently sug gested anteroposterior orientation of Hallucigenia and Microdictyon.