New Bivalved Arthropods from Mid‐Cambrian Kaili Biota of Southeastern Guizhou, Southwest China

Abstract: Bivalved arthropods are very important elements in Mid‐Cambrian Kaili Biota. Three genera, Alicaris, Pseudoarctolepis, and Forfexicaris, are herein recorded for the first time, including three new species: Alicaris kailiensis sp. nov., Forfexicaris reticulata sp. nov., and Pseudoarctolepis semicircularis sp. nov., of which Alicaris kailiensis sp. nov. could be assigned to crustaceomorphs; the other two forms are grouped as proschizoramians. These forms provide important information about the distribution and species diversity of a poorly‐known element of Cambrian fauna, and also bridge the biotic evolutionary gap between Early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota in Southwest China and Mid‐Cambrian burgess shale biota in North America.