Having characteristics of or resembling the gigantostraca; possessing a hard shell or carapace like these extinct arthropods.
From 'gigantostraca' + the Latin adjectival suffix '-ous'. This term extends the taxonomic description into a more descriptive adjective used in paleontological literature to characterize fossil specimens and their features.
A 'gigantostracous' fossil tells paleontologists a whole story—the presence of that hard shell means these creatures lived in water, had molting cycles, and occupied ecological niches completely different from modern arthropods.
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