RESUMO
The biology of extinct animals is usually reconstructed from external morphological characters and comparison with present-day analogues. Internal soft organs are very rarely preserved in fossils and require high-tech approaches for visualization. Here, we report the internal anatomy of a female and male of the ~ 162 Myr-old lobster Eryma ventrosum from the Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône Konservat-Lagerstätte in France using X-ray synchrotron tomography. The Erymidae is an extinct, species-rich, widespread and ecologically important Mesozoic family of decapod crustaceans. Our investigation revealed the anatomy of the locomotory, respiratory, circulatory, excretory, digestive, nervous and sensory, and reproductive systems at a resolution resembling low-magnification histology. Particularly notable is the detailed preservation of the small brain and the fragile hepatopancreas, the main metabolic organ of decapods that decays rapidly post-mortem. The remarkable preservation shows that the internal anatomy of Eryma ventrosum is closer to that of Nephropidae (clawed lobsters) than Astacidae (freshwater crayfish), their closest living relatives based on skeletal morphology. The microanatomy of the gonads and hepatopancreas indicates that the two specimens investigated were a young, well-nourished female and male prior to sexual maturity. The analysis of the soft anatomy reveals remarkable conservatism over 160 Myr and offers new insights into feeding, reproduction, life history and lifestyle of an important component of the macrozoobenthos of Middle Jurassic seas.