Tuesday Crustie: Burtonesque

Quick! What does this make you think of?

David Legg looked at these, and immediately thought of this:

And thus the stage was set for the fossil to be named Kooteninchela deppi, named for actor Johnny Depp. Here is a reconstruction:

(Okay, yes, strictly speaking this is an arthropod and not necessarily a crustacean, but the press is reporting it as a lobster, so I’m going to let it ride.)

Reference

Legg D. 2013. Multi-segmented arthropods from the Middle Cambrian of British Columbia (Canada). Journal of Paleontology 87(3): 493-501. http://www.psjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1666/12-112.1

Fossil from here; reconstruction from here.