Meeting Abstract
The exceptional preservation of fossils attributable to larval stages opens a window for studies of arthropod developmental biology in the ancient oceans. The phylogenetic placement of larval fossils provides unique but essential challenges, as this material represents some of the very oldest arthropod fossils (early Cambrian, 514 Ma) and thus occupies a key position in major crown group splits. New transcriptomic data and new fossil calibrated phylogenies, and their implications for the evolution of larval biology and ecology will discussed.
