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The collection, since 1975, of over 1500 specimens of Leanchoilia Walcott by the Royal Ontario Museum has prompted reassessment of the genus and its species from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Among new characters in Leanchoilia superlata, the type species, are the presence of two pairs of eyes, a dorsal double carina bracketing the axis of the body segments, segmentation of the gill branch of the appendages, and serration along the body edges from the posterior third of the cephalic shield to the last body segment. Leanchoilia persephone Simonetta, previously synonymized with L. superlata, is also well represented in the Burgess Shale, and is re-established as a valid species, owing to conspicuous differences from the type species. These are the absence of the diagnostic up-curving snout of the cephalic shield, the absence of carina, the shorter ‘great appendages’, the smooth edges of the body, and its overall shape in dorsal aspect. Leanchoilia superlata and L. persephone may be sexual dimorphs of each other. The ROM collections extend considerably the geographical distribution and stratigraphic range of Leanchoilia in western Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study of over 1000 specimens of Marrella splendens Walcott, 1912, out of the more than 9000 collected by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) since 1975, has produced new information on the anatomy, functional morphology, and behaviour of this most common arthropod in the Burgess Shale fauna. Among the new features recognized is the distinction between the alimentary canal and circulatory system; where the former is generally three-dimensional and slightly reflective, the latter never presents any relief and is very reflective. A larger range of size is now known, from 2.4 to 24.5 mm in length, with small individuals possessing 17 body segments to large specimens with more than 26 body segments, representing an almost complete ontogenetic series. The second pair of "antennae" is now interpreted as swimming appendages, since the five distal segments are dorsoventrally compressed, fringed with setae and with a considerable blood supply, providing a paddlelike appendage capable of producing a considerable propelling force. The ROM collections extend the geographical distribution of Marrella 13 km to the southeast and the stratigraphical range through the lowest five members of the Burgess Shale Formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]