:en:Cheloniellon

Cheloniellon range about 20 centimeters in body length (excluding appendages). The flattened, ovoid body compose of 11 tergites (dorsal exoskeleton), all but the posteriormost are laterally expanded and covered the appendages underneath each of them. The boundaries between tergites have a radiated appearance. Dorsal surface of the first tergite have a pair of kidney-shaped eyes. Based on the differentiation of corresponding appendages, the first 2 tergites and the remaining 9 tergites were interpreted as those of cephalon (head) and trunk, respectively. Contray to the widely-referred reconstruction by Stürmer & Bergström (1978), but as most of the Cheloniellids, There is no evidence of telson (a medial tail-like terminal structure) in any described fossil materials.Wendruff, Andrew James, et al. "New cheloniellid arthropod with large raptorial appendages from the Silurian of Wisconsin, USA." BioRxiv (2018): 407379. [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2018/09/07/407379.full.pdf]

{{multiple image

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| footer = Ventral structures of the anterior region of Cheloniellon calmani, showing all cephalic appendages and first two trunk appendage pairs. Dark grey (first diagram) and coloured region (second diagram): appendicular structures, Ant (yellow): antenna, Pap (green): 2nd cephalic appendage, Est: esthetasc-like brush, Lbr (red): labrum, Gap (cyan): gnathobasic appendage, Gn: gnathobase, Tap (blue): trunk appendage, Ex: exopod, Te: tergite.

| image1 = 20200615 Cheloniellon calmani anterior ventral.png

| image2 = 20200615 Cheloniellon calmani anterior ventral abbreviation.png

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Underneath the tergites were numerous pairs of appendages. The anteriormost appendage pair were antennae, followed by a pair of specialized second appendages that bore spines and esthetasc-like brushes, and 4 pairs of leg-like appendages that have overlapped gnathobases (jaw-like structure on leg base). The mouth was covered by a labrum with spiny surface, situated between the second appendages and the first gnathobasic appendages. The last gnathobasic appendage pair and the remaining 5 appendage pairs anterior to it were interpreted as corresponding to the second tergite and first tergite, respectively. Appendages posterior to the cephalon were 8 pairs of biramous appendages (each compose of a leg-like endopod and a lobe-like exopod) and a pair of furcae, corresponding to the remaining 9 trunk tergites.

Cheloniellon may have been a benthic predator,{{Cite journal|last1=Rust|first1=Jes|last2=Bergmann|first2=Alexandra|last3=Bartels|first3=Christoph|last4=Schoenemann|first4=Brigitte|last5=Sedlmeier|first5=Stephanie|last6=Kühl|first6=Gabriele|date=2016-03-01|title=The Hunsrück biota: A unique window into the ecology of Lower Devonian arthropods|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1467803916000050|journal=Arthropod Structure & Development|series=Special Issue: Fossils as Living Beings|language=en|volume=45|issue=2|pages=140–151|doi=10.1016/j.asd.2016.01.004|pmid=26826500|issn=1467-8039}} using its gnathobases to crush prey while the spiny labrum may have helped lead food items toward the mouth opening. The specialized second appendages are too fragile to be raptorial, instead they may have played a tactile role, sensing the property and position of food items. The endopod and exopod of the trunk appendages may have had a locomotory and respiratory function, respectively.

{{cladogram

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|caption= Phylogenetic position of Cheloniellon.

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{{clade| style=width:20em;font-size:100%;line-height:100%

|label1=Cheloniellida

|1={{clade

|1=Neostrabops

|2={{clade

|1=Cheloniellon

|2={{clade

|1=Triopus

|2=Duslia

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Cheloniellon is a genus of Cheloniellida, an extinct arthropod taxon that have a controversial phylogenetic position. It was previously thought to be chelicerate-related, but later studies repeatedly suggests it as a member of Artiopoda, forming the clade Vicissicaudata with Aglaspidida and related genera.{{Cite journal|last1=Ortega-Hernández|first1=Javier|last2=Legg|first2=David A.|last3=Braddy|first3=Simon J.|date=2013|title=The phylogeny of aglaspidid arthropods and the internal relationships within Artiopoda|journal=Cladistics|language=en|volume=29|issue=1|pages=15–45|doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00413.x|pmid=34814371 |s2cid=85744103|issn=1096-0031}}{{Cite journal|last1=Lerosey-Aubril|first1=Rudy|last2=Zhu|first2=Xuejian|last3=Ortega-Hernández|first3=Javier|date=2017-09-11|title=The Vicissicaudata revisited – insights from a new aglaspidid arthropod with caudal appendages from the Furongian of China|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=7|issue=1|page=11117|doi=10.1038/s41598-017-11610-5|pmid=28894246|pmc=5593897|issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Du|first1=Kun-sheng|last2=Ortega-Hernández|first2=Javier|last3=Yang|first3=Jie|last4=Zhang|first4=Xi-guang|date=2019–2020|title=A soft-bodied euarthropod from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba Lagerstätte of China supports a new clade of basal artiopodans with dorsal ecdysial sutures|journal=Cladistics|language=en|volume=35|issue=3|pages=269–281|doi=10.1111/cla.12344|pmid=34622993 |s2cid=89985331|issn=0748-3007|doi-access=free}} Within Cheloniellida, Cheloniellon branched next to Neostrabops but basal to Triopus and Duslia.

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{{Artiopoda}}

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Category:Devonian animals of Europe

Category:Fossils of Germany

Category:Hunsrück Slate fossils

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1932

Category:Artiopoda