Crustacea

Crustaceans are mandibulate arthropods that are traditionally a part of the paraphyletic subphylum Crustacea. Crustaceans are mainly aquatic, including decapods, seed shrimps, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, opossum shrimps, amphipods and mantis shrimp. It is now well accepted that hexapods are cladistically crustaceans, with the two groups now combined in the monophyletic clade Pancrustacea. The three classes Cephalocarida, Branchiopoda, and Remipedia are more closely related to the hexapods than they are to any other crustaceans.

Crustacea

djpmapleferryman · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
crustaceanPBDB
Sits inside
ArthropodaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Arthropoda

Time the record covers

At least 515 million years on record.

The record covers at least 516 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 521 Mya to 0 Mya.

Cambrian — about 151 of 2194 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 3 of 2194 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 8 of 2194 occurrencesDevonian — about 7 of 2194 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 24 of 2194 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 4 of 2194 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 21 of 2194 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 9 of 2194 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 9 of 2194 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 12 of 2194 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 12 of 2194 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 27 of 2194 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 226 of 2194 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 488 of 2194 occurrencesPaleocene — about 15 of 2194 occurrencesEocene — about 92 of 2194 occurrencesOligocene — about 71 of 2194 occurrencesMiocene — about 413 of 2194 occurrencesPliocene — about 185 of 2194 occurrencesPleistocene — about 390 of 2194 occurrences531–514 Mya — about 54 occurrences514–496 Mya — about 85 occurrences496–478 Mya — about 12 occurrences478–461 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences461–443 Mya — about 3 occurrences443–425 Mya — about 6 occurrences425–407 Mya — about 2 occurrences390–372 Mya — about 4 occurrences372–354 Mya — about 3 occurrences354–337 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences337–319 Mya — about 4 occurrences319–301 Mya — about 18 occurrences301–283 Mya — about 2 occurrences283–266 Mya — about 2 occurrences266–248 Mya — about 10 occurrences248–230 Mya — about 24 occurrences230–213 Mya — about 2 occurrences213–195 Mya — about 8 occurrences195–177 Mya — about 7 occurrences177–159 Mya — about 14 occurrences159–142 Mya — about 26 occurrences142–124 Mya — about 15 occurrences124–106 Mya — about 72 occurrences106–89 Mya — about 274 occurrences89–71 Mya — about 246 occurrences71–53 Mya — about 130 occurrences53–35 Mya — about 67 occurrences35–18 Mya — about 216 occurrences18–0 Mya — about 886 occurrences516 Mya11.7 ka531 Mya0 Mya

2,194 occurrences of Crustacea on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2,194 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

402 formations

Gault — 51.08°N, 1.18°EGault — 51.30°N, 0.33°EGault — 51.29°N, 0.20°EGault — 50.90°N, 0.28°WGault — 51.12°N, 1.14°EGault — 51.16°N, 0.93°EGault — 51.94°N, 0.64°WGault — 51.31°N, 0.48°EVaqueros — 34.04°N, 120.04°WVaqueros — 33.54°N, 117.78°WVaqueros — 33.68°N, 117.76°WVaqueros — 33.65°N, 117.81°WVaqueros — 33.64°N, 117.59°WVaqueros — 33.77°N, 117.89°WVaqueros — 33.70°N, 117.71°WVaqueros — 34.33°N, 118.83°WVaqueros — 34.33°N, 119.03°WVaqueros — 34.09°N, 119.04°WVaqueros — 34.05°N, 118.87°WVaqueros — 34.04°N, 118.88°WVaqueros — 34.06°N, 118.85°WVaqueros — 34.07°N, 118.71°WVaqueros — 34.37°N, 118.82°WVaqueros — 34.32°N, 119.08°WVaqueros — 34.36°N, 118.94°WVaqueros — 34.45°N, 118.92°WVaqueros — 34.58°N, 118.91°WVaqueros — 34.57°N, 119.02°WVaqueros — 34.37°N, 119.33°WVaqueros — 34.44°N, 119.20°WVaqueros — 34.52°N, 120.43°WVaqueros — 34.57°N, 120.29°WVaqueros — 34.53°N, 120.35°WVaqueros — 34.58°N, 120.16°WVaqueros — 34.58°N, 120.14°WVaqueros — 34.92°N, 119.13°WVaqueros — 34.98°N, 120.21°WVaqueros — 35.66°N, 120.92°WVaqueros — 35.64°N, 120.93°WVaqueros — 35.31°N, 120.04°WVaqueros — 35.25°N, 120.06°WVaqueros — 35.78°N, 121.06°WVaqueros — 35.77°N, 120.93°WVaqueros — 36.07°N, 121.28°WVaqueros — 36.18°N, 121.31°WBurgess Shale — 51.44°N, 116.47°WBurgess Shale — 51.03°N, 115.83°WBurgess Shale — 51.39°N, 116.43°WChoptank — 38.43°N, 76.44°WChoptank — 38.52°N, 76.51°WChoptank — 38.32°N, 76.41°WChoptank — 38.42°N, 76.54°WChoptank — 38.39°N, 76.57°WRipley — 35.32°N, 88.42°WRipley — 33.46°N, 88.77°WRipley — 33.39°N, 88.74°WYorktown — 37.25°N, 76.50°WYorktown — 34.90°N, 78.05°WYorktown — 37.21°N, 76.69°WYorktown — 37.02°N, 76.58°WYorktown — 36.76°N, 76.37°WYorktown — 35.37°N, 76.78°WYorktown — 35.61°N, 77.33°WYorktown — 37.40°N, 76.82°WYorktown — 35.15°N, 77.14°WYuanshan — 24.81°N, 102.58°EYuanshan — 24.84°N, 102.41°EYuanshan — 25.50°N, 102.40°EYuanshan — 25.40°N, 103.38°EYuanshan — 24.67°N, 102.65°EYuanshan — 25.68°N, 102.17°ESt Marys — 38.32°N, 76.42°WSt Marys — 38.16°N, 76.44°WSt Marys — 38.27°N, 76.15°WSt Marys — 37.86°N, 76.82°WSt Marys — 38.36°N, 76.39°WTamiami — 26.98°N, 82.21°WTamiami — 26.89°N, 82.01°WTamiami — 26.13°N, 81.48°WTamiami — 25.67°N, 80.31°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.53°WTamiami — 27.36°N, 82.45°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.43°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.88°N, 120.51°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.84°N, 120.41°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.90°N, 120.32°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.74°N, 120.41°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.77°N, 120.48°WYu'anshan — 25.33°N, 103.50°EYu'anshan — 25.55°N, 102.40°EYu'anshan — 24.77°N, 102.58°EGulpen — 50.76°N, 5.79°EGulpen — 50.75°N, 5.65°EMooreville Chalk — 32.93°N, 88.04°WMooreville Chalk — 32.84°N, 88.02°WMooreville Chalk — 33.49°N, 88.48°WMooreville Chalk — 32.95°N, 88.08°WMooreville Chalk — 32.96°N, 88.07°WMooreville Chalk — 32.78°N, 87.91°WMooreville Chalk — 33.07°N, 88.26°WTeplice — 50.27°N, 15.14°ETeplice — 50.65°N, 13.88°ETeplice — 50.46°N, 14.05°ETeplice — 50.40°N, 13.94°ETeplice — 50.55°N, 13.78°ETeplice — 49.89°N, 14.42°ECaloosahatchee — 25.97°N, 81.73°WCaloosahatchee — 25.75°N, 81.94°WCaloosahatchee — 26.89°N, 82.01°WCaloosahatchee — 26.76°N, 81.46°WCaloosahatchee — 26.75°N, 80.93°WCaloosahatchee — 26.96°N, 81.99°WCaloosahatchee — 26.96°N, 81.17°WCaloosahatchee — 26.52°N, 82.03°WPancho Rico — 36.69°N, 121.63°WPancho Rico — 36.24°N, 121.29°WPancho Rico — 35.90°N, 120.84°WPancho Rico — 35.99°N, 120.91°WPancho Rico — 36.20°N, 121.03°WPancho Rico — 36.13°N, 121.02°WPancho Rico — 36.03°N, 120.80°WPancho Rico — 35.94°N, 120.68°WPancho Rico — 35.97°N, 120.73°WPancho Rico — 36.25°N, 121.29°WPeruc-Koryčany — 50.56°N, 14.08°EPeruc-Koryčany — 50.23°N, 14.09°EPico — 34.36°N, 118.56°WPico — 34.42°N, 118.70°WPico — 34.35°N, 118.52°WCarlile Shale — 35.49°N, 105.89°WCarlile Shale — 39.05°N, 99.03°WCarlile Shale — 39.41°N, 98.60°WCarlile Shale — 38.76°N, 99.53°WCarlile Shale — 38.17°N, 100.00°WCarlile Shale — 39.35°N, 98.74°WCarlile Shale — 38.61°N, 99.44°WCarlile Shale — 39.07°N, 99.14°WCarlile Shale — 39.90°N, 97.85°WCarlile Shale — 38.60°N, 99.47°WCarlile Shale — 38.38°N, 99.34°WUnnamed — 33.24°N, 119.51°WUnnamed — 33.24°N, 119.55°WDry Branch — 33.12°N, 81.70°WDry Branch — 33.58°N, 81.42°WDry Branch — 33.62°N, 81.68°WDry Branch — 33.50°N, 84.74°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.80°N, 118.16°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.88°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.71°N, 118.27°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WDuck Creek — 33.06°N, 97.27°WDuck Creek — 33.85°N, 97.09°WDuck Creek — 33.82°N, 96.53°WPrairie Bluff — 32.67°N, 88.29°WPrairie Bluff — 32.66°N, 88.17°WPrairie Bluff — 32.39°N, 87.92°WPrairie Bluff — 32.05°N, 86.99°WPrairie Bluff — 32.04°N, 86.78°WPrairie Bluff — 31.97°N, 86.72°WPrairie Bluff — 33.40°N, 88.78°WPrairie Bluff — 33.46°N, 88.79°W

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The named rock units Crustacea has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 378 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 658 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Crustacea and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Crustacea and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

3,898 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1,356 sites for Crustacea, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

520 references

Each of the 2,194 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 508 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Crustacea

Credit
djpmapleferryman
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itArthropoda through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Brünnich 1772)