Editing Onychophora (section)

=== Emergence from lobopodians ===
[[File:Antennacanthopodia.jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|''[[Antennacanthopodia]]'', a close relative of onychophorans]]
Certain [[Fossil|fossils]] from the [[Early Cambrian]] bear a striking resemblance to the velvet worms. These fossils, known collectively as [[lobopodian]]s, were an [[evolutionary grade]] that gave rise to [[Arthropod|arthropods]], [[Tardigrade|tardigrades]], onychophorans, and the extinct [[Radiodonta|radiodonts]].<ref name="Smith-OrtegaHz-2014">{{cite journal | last1 = Smith | first1 = M.R. | last2 = Ortega Hernández | first2 = J. | year = 2014 | title = ''Hallucigenia''<nowiki/>'s onychophoran-like claws and the case for Tactopoda | journal = Nature | volume = 514 | issue = 7522 | pages = 363–366 | doi = 10.1038/nature13576 | pmid = 25132546 | bibcode = 2014Natur.514..363S | s2cid = 205239797 | url = http://rdcu.be/bKoD }}</ref>

How different lobopodians are related varies from study to study. However, with the exception of a single paper,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aria |first=Cédric |last2=and Caron |first2=Jean-Bernard |date=2024-12-31 |title=Deep origin of articulation strategies in panarthropods: evidence from a new luolishaniid lobopodian (Panarthropoda) from the Tulip Beds, Burgess Shale |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2024.2356090 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=2356090 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2024.2356090 |issn=1477-2019}}</ref> ''[[Antennacanthopodia]]'' is the only animal to be confidently viewed as a close onychophoran relative.<ref name="Smith-OrtegaHz-2014" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Jie |last2=Ortega-Hernández |first2=Javier |last3=Gerber |first3=Sylvain |last4=Butterfield |first4=Nicholas J. |last5=Hou |first5=Jin-bo |last6=Lan |first6=Tian |last7=Zhang |first7=Xi-guang |date=2015-07-14 |title=A superarmored lobopodian from the Cambrian of China and early disparity in the evolution of Onychophora |url=https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1505596112 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=112 |issue=28 |pages=8678–8683 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1505596112 |pmc=4507230 |pmid=26124122}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Xi-Guang |last2=Smith |first2=Martin R. |last3=Yang |first3=Jie |last4=Hou |first4=Jin-Bo |date=2016-09-01 |title=Onychophoran-like musculature in a phosphatized Cambrian lobopodian |journal=Biology Letters |volume=12 |issue=9 |pages=20160492 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2016.0492 |pmc=5046927 |pmid=27677816}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Murdock |first1=Duncan J. E. |last2=Gabbott |first2=Sarah E. |last3=Purnell |first3=Mark A. |date=2016-01-22 |title=The impact of taphonomic data on phylogenetic resolution: Helenodora inopinata (Carboniferous, Mazon Creek Lagerstätte) and the onychophoran stem lineage |url=https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-016-0582-7 |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=19 |bibcode=2016BMCEE..16...19M |doi=10.1186/s12862-016-0582-7 |doi-broken-date=17 March 2025 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=4722706 |pmid=26801389 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":04">{{Cite journal |last1=Caron |first1=Jean-Bernard |last2=Aria |first2=Cédric |date=2017-01-31 |title=Cambrian suspension-feeding lobopodians and the early radiation of panarthropods |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=29 |bibcode=2017BMCEE..17...29C |doi=10.1186/s12862-016-0858-y |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=5282736 |pmid=28137244 |doi-access=free}}</ref> ''Antennacanthopodia'' lived during the [[Cambrian Stage 3]] and possessed a variety of onychophoran traits: stubby lobopods, spinous foot pads, an annulated body, and small [[Eye|eyes]] behind the main [[Antenna (zoology)|antennae]]. An obvious difference from onychophorans was that the animal had not one, but two pairs of antennae.<ref name="Ou">{{cite journal |author1=Qiang Ou |author2=Jianni Liu |author3=Degan Shu |author4=Jian Han |author5=Zhifei Zhang |author6=Xiaoqiao Wan |author7=Qianping Lei |year=2011 |title=A rare onychophoran-like lobopodian from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang lagerstätte, southwestern China, and its phylogenetic implications |journal=[[Journal of Paleontology]] |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=587–594 |bibcode=2011JPal...85..587O |doi=10.1666/09-147R2.1 |s2cid=53056128}}</ref> These secondary antennae were shorter than the first pair and thought to be homologous with either the slime papillae<ref name="Ou" /> or jaws of velvet worms.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last1=Ortega-Hernández |first1=Javier |last2=Janssen |first2=Ralf |last3=Budd |first3=Graham E. |date=2017-05-01 |title=Origin and evolution of the panarthropod head – A palaeobiological and developmental perspective |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1467803916301669 |journal=Arthropod Structure & Development |series=Evolution of Segmentation |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=354–379 |bibcode=2017ArtSD..46..354O |doi=10.1016/j.asd.2016.10.011 |issn=1467-8039 |pmid=27989966}}</ref> When Onychophora first arose or moved onto land is currently unknown. However, it could have plausibly happened between the [[Ordovician]] and [[Silurian]] – approximately {{Ma|Ordovician|Late Silurian|round=-1}} – via the [[intertidal zone]].<ref name="Monge1995" />