Mutotylaspis

Mutotylaspis
Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous (Albian), ~110 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Probeebeidae
Genus: †Mutotylaspis
Fraaije, Mychko, Barsukov & Jagt, 2023
Species:
†M. tripudium
Binomial name
†Mutotylaspis tripudium
Fraaije, Mychko, Barsukov & Jagt, 2023

Mutotylaspis is an extinct monotypic genus of probeebeid hermit crabs that lived in Russia's Vladimir Oblast during the Albian stage of the Lower Cretaceous Epoch, and the only extinct genus in the Probeebeidae family. Its type and only species is Mutotylaspis tripudium.

Etymology

The genus name, Mutotylaspis, is a combination of MUTO (giant monsters, or kaiju, that appear as primary antagonists in the 2014 movie Godzilla) and the genus Tylaspis (another probeebeid that is thought to be the closest living relative of Mutotylaspis).

The name of the type species, tripudium, is Latin for “dancing”, a reference to the pose the type specimen (SVSR, ГМ-436) was found in.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fraaije, René H.B.; Mychko, Eduard V.; Barsukov, Leonid S.; Jagt, John W.M. (February 2024). "A new mid-Cretaceous hermit crab (Crustacea, Anomura) from Central Russia sheds new light on paguroid evolution". Cretaceous Research. 154 105749. Bibcode:2024CrRes.15405749F. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105749. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 De Grave, Sammy (2023). Lemaitre R, McLaughlin P (eds.). "Mutotylaspis Fraaije, Mychko, Barsukov & Jagt, 2023 †". World Paguroidea & Lomisoidea Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Gettell, Oliver (21 May 2014). "'Godzilla's' monstrous costars: What do MUTOs mean for the franchise?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 September 2025.