Extraordinary primitive arthropod - Setapedites!!! - Fossilised animal - Setapedites abundantis (Lustri, et al., 2024) - 65 mm - 60 mm

Spectacular complete specimen of Setapedites abundantis. A small primitive marine arthropod from the group Euchelicerata. There is a plate and a counterplate. Chelicerates, named for the presence of mouthparts called chelicerae, which generally function in feeding and defense against predators. All parts of the animal are perfectly preserved and can be observed clearly.

Chelicerates are a clade of arthropods that includes horseshoe crabs, scorpions, spiders, mites, and ticks, as well as the extinct eurypterids (marine scorpions) and chasmataspids. Little is known about the origin and early evolution of chelicerate body distribution, due to the scarce fossil record.

Setapedites completes the anatomical gap between the chelicerates and the Cambrian trunk taxa and reveals the early diversity and evolution of chelicerates.

The extraordinary preservation of the fossils allows us to observe in great detail the delicate structures of this arthropod. A specimen worthy of a museum.


Plastic supports included.

Plate 1: 55 g; 65x30x6 mm
Plate 2: 21 g; 65x60x8 mm

Length of Setapedites (including caudal appendix): 8 mm.


The deposits of the Fezouata formation, near the Moroccan city of Zagora, are providing a rich and diverse record of fossils with extraordinary preservation, up to soft tissues or soft-bodied animals being recorded fairly frequently. This type of preservation is similar, although later in time, to that of the famous Burgess Shale site (Canada).

These are fossils dating from between 480 and 472 million years ago. At that time, Morocco was an ocean and was located over the South Pole.