Actaeus armatus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of arthropods}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|509|497|Middle Cambrian}}

| image = USNM PAL 155597 Actaeus armatus Image 04.jpg

| image_caption = Holotype specimen

| image2 = Actaeus.jpg

| image2_caption = Reconstruction of Actaeus

| genus = Actaeus

| parent_authority = Simonetta, 1970

| species = armatus

| authority = Simonetta, 1970

}}

Actaeus is a genus of leanchoiliid megacheiran arthropod, containing the single species Actaeus armatus. It is known from a single specimen recovered from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada,{{cite journal|author=Briggs, Derek E. G. |author2=Collins, Desmond |year=1988 |title=A Middle Cambrian chelicerate from Mount Stephen, British Columbia |journal=Palaeontology |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=779–798 |url=http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol%2031/Pages%20779-798.pdf |accessdate=April 4, 2010 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716060204/http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol%2031/Pages%20779-798.pdf |archivedate=July 16, 2011 }} and it may be actually a poorly preserved specimen of Alalcomenaeus.{{Cite journal |last1=Briggs |first1=Derek E. G. |last2=Collins |first2=Desmond |date=1999 |title=The Arthropod Alalcomenaeus cambricus Simonetta, from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia |journal=Palaeontology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=953–977 |doi=10.1111/1475-4983.00104 |issn=0031-0239|doi-access=free |bibcode=1999Palgy..42..953B }} The specimen is over 6 cm long and has a body consisting of a head shield, 11 body tergites, and a terminal plate.{{cite journal |author=Whittington, H. B. |date=May 12, 1981 |title=Rare Arthropods from the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia| journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B |volume=292 |issue=1060 |pages=329–357 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1981.0033 |bibcode=1981RSPTB.292..329W|doi-access= }} It was named after Actaeus, first king of attica, and armatus a combination of greek and latin words to describe the frontal appendages of the species.{{cite web|url= https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/actaeus-armatus/|title= Actaeus armatus. Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery|website=Virtual Museum of Canada. (Burgess Shale species 23)|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230326150506/https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/actaeus-armatus/|archive-date=March 26, 2023|url-status=live}}