A genus of tiny crustaceans called seed shrimp or ostracods, characterized by a bivalve shell-like carapace and found in freshwater and marine environments.
Named after Kypris, an epithet for Aphrodite (goddess of Cyprus), reflecting the classical tradition of naming zoological specimens after mythological figures and geographical locations.
Ostracods like Cypris are so small you need a microscope to see them, yet they're one of the oldest crustacean groups—they've lived virtually unchanged for over 400 million years, making them living fossils used by paleontologists to date ancient rocks.
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