Editing Microdictyon (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Microdictyon sinicum from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte.png|thumb|left|Moulting specimens of ''Microdictyon sinicum''.<ref name="chen2024" />]]
[[File:Assumed molting process in Microdictyon.png|thumb|left|Assumed moulting process of ''Microdictyon''<ref name="chen2024" />]]

Excluding their sclerites, ''Microdictyon'' had a relatively simple, conserved body plan among lobopodians. Based on fossils of ''Microdictyon sinicum'', the trunk was elongate, up to {{convert|77|mm}} in length (although other species may have been smaller or larger), with 10 pairs of tube-like limbs and 9 pairs of netted sclerite plates. Each limb pair was associated with a single pair of plates, except for the posterior-most set of limbs which shared a sclerite pair with the penultimate leg pair. The legs are undifferentiated, tipped with a pair of small, curved claws. The legs were finely [[Annulus (zoology)|annulated]], and ornamented further with small [[Onychophora#Skin_and_muscle|papillae]]. The trunk itself was also annulated and dotted with small papillae between the limb pairs. At each sclerite plate pair, the body swells slightly to accommodate it, starting at a negligible height and becoming larger posteriorly as the plates increase in diameter. These plate-bearing mounds, and the area where the limbs attach below them, are devoid of annulation. The sclerite plates are subcircular and convex outwardly. They are composed of a fine, roughly hexagonal mesh of rounded hollow pits and specialized nodes at the mesh intersections. The nodes vary in morphology between species, but are typically mushroom-shaped.<ref name="junyuan1995" /> The walls of the sclerite were thin, and the sclerotized bars between nodes may have further bumps on their surface, and the entire mesh is surrounded by a thin marginal rim. Rarely, the plates may develop large spines randomly on their surface.<ref name="zhang2007">{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Xi-Guang |last2=Aldridge |first2=Richard J. |title=Development and Diversification of Trunk Plates of the Lower Cambrian Lobopodians |journal=Palaeontology |date=2007 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=401–415 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00634.x |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00634.x |language=en |issn=1475-4983|doi-access=free }}</ref> The head and neck were smooth or only finely annulated, with a small mouth set slightly ventrally at the anterior of the head. No evidence for eyes, cephalic appendages, or any structure resembling teeth or jaws has been reported. The gut was simple and straight, with the anus found at the end of a small posterior tail-like projection.<ref name="junyuan1995" />