Diania

Diania
Temporal range:
Diania cactiformis fossil (ELEL-SJ102058) showing anterior trunk segments.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Panarthropoda
Phylum: "Lobopodia"
Class: Xenusia
Genus: Diania
Species:
D. cactiformis
Binomial name
Diania cactiformis
Liu et al., 2011

Diania is an extinct genus of lobopodian panarthropod found in the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale of China, represented by a single species - D. cactiformis. Known during its investigation by the nickname "walking cactus", this organism belongs to a group known as the armoured lobopodians, and has a simple worm-like body with robust, spiny legs. Initially, the legs were thought to have a jointed exoskeleton and Diania was suggested to be evolutionarily close to early arthropods, but many later studies have rejected this interpretation.