page_title: Waptia
section_title: Discovery
hierarchical_section_title: Waptia / Discovery
caption_attribution_description: English: Field notebook of Charles D. Walcott from August 31 to September 3, 1909 detailing the discovery of the Burgess Shale fossils. Three arthropods are drawn in the entry for August 31 - Marrella, Waptia, and Naraoia
context_page_description: Waptia fieldensis is an extinct species of arthropod from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale Lagerstätte of Canada. It grew to a length of about 8 cm and resembled modern shrimp in both morphology and habit. It had a large bivalved carapace and a segmented body terminating into a pair of tail flaps. It was an active swimmer, feeding on organic particles it gathered from the seafloor substrate. It is also one of the oldest animals with direct evidence of brood care.
  Based on the number of individuals, Waptia fieldensis is the third most abundant arthropod from the Burgess Shale Formation, with thousands of specimens collected. It was among the first fossils found by the American paleontologist Charles D. Walcott in 1909. He described it in 1912 and named it after two mountains near the discovery site – Wapta Mountain and Mount Field.
  Waptia fieldensis is the only species classified under the genus Waptia. Although it bears a remarkable resemblance to modern crustaceans, its taxonomic affinities remain unclear. It is currently classified as a stem group crustacean and tentatively included in the clade Crustaceomorpha with its close relatives in the clade Hymenocarina.
context_section_description: Waptia fieldensis was one of the first fossils discovered by Charles D. Walcott from the Burgess Shale in August 1909. A rough sketch of Waptia is present in his diary for August 31, 1909, alongside sketches of Marrella and Naraoia. A formal description for the species was published by Walcott in 1912. The species was named after the two mountains connected by the Fossil Ridge containing the Burgess Shale locality, Wapta Mountain and Mount Field of Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada. The name of Wapta Mountain itself comes from the First Nation Nakoda word wapta, meaning "running water"; while Mount Field was named after the American telecommunications pioneer Cyrus West Field.
caption: Field notebook of Charles D. Walcott (from August 31 to September 3, 1909) detailing the discovery of the Burgess Shale fossils. Three arthropods are drawn in the entry for August 31 – Marrella, Waptia, and Naraoia.[16]
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