Erratus

Erratus Temporal range: 518 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Schematic reconstruction in dorsal and ventral views
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Genus:	†Erratus Fu et al. 2022
Type species
Erratus sperare Fu et al. 2022

Erratus^[a] is an extinct genus of marine arthropod from the Cambrian of China. Its type and only species is Erratus sperare.^[b] Erratus is likely one of the most basal known arthropods, and its discovery has helped scientists understand the early evolution of arthropod trunk appendages. Some of the stem-arthropods like radiodonts did not have legs, instead they had flap like appendages that helped them swim.^[1] Erratus on the other hand had not only flaps but also a set of primitive legs.^[2] It also supported the theory that the gills of aquatic arthropods probably evolved into the wings and lungs of terrestrial arthropods later in the Paleozoic.^[3]

Fossils of Erratus have been found in the Chengjiang Lagerstätte of China,^[4] dating to around 520 million years ago.^[5] Erratus was a small, nektonic organism with a bivalved carapace that probably ate by deposit feeding or filter feeding.

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