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Kazacharthra is an extinct order of branchiopod that appear to be closely related to the living order Notostraca (the tadpole shrimp). Kazacharthrans lived in marshes and ponds in the Upper Triassic of Western China and Mongolia, and in Lower Jurassic Kazakhstan (where their fossils were first found, hence the name). It is presumed that the kazacharthrids lived much like their living relatives, in that they were opportunistic that fed on any available food source, from to detritus to smaller that could be overpowered (i.e., fairy shrimp, small or recently hatched amphibian larvae, smaller members of the same species, etc.).
The kazacharthrans are distinguished from tadpole shrimp in that they were much larger (carapace length ranging from 0.6 to 5 centimeters), had uniquely shaped, heavily sclerotized, heavily mineralized carapaces, and plate-shaped telsons. The carapace, or headshield had a distinctive pattern of tubercles, typically with a central-anteriorly located tubercle that may or may not have housed the compound eyes, and other, distinctively shaped tubercles that may represent attachment sites for mandibles.
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