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.