Urokodia aequalis is an extinct genus of arthropod

Arthropod

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...

 from the early Cambrian

Cambrian

The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...

. The taxon is only known from the Maotianshan Shales

Maotianshan shales

The Maotianshan Shales are a series of lower Cambrian deposits in the Chiungchussu formation, famous for their Konservat Lagerstätten, or high number of fossils preserved in place...

 of China, from which it was described by Hou et. al. (1989) based on some 15 specimens. It segmentation resembles that of a millipede

Millipede

Millipedes are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...

 and it possessed head and tail shields with thorny spikes. It has some similarities to the arthropod Mollisonia that is known from both the Burgess Shale

Burgess Shale

The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...

 of Canada and the Kaili biota of China.