U.S. and Romanian scientists have discovered a new primitive crab species from the Prosopidae family that lived 150-million years ago.

The new species, Cycloprosopon dobrogea, which lived during the Jurassic period, was found by researchers from Kent State University and the University of Bucharest, Romania.

"Studying primitive and extant crabs helps determine various aspects of biodiversity and patterns of evolution, such as when arthropods diversified," said KSU Associate Professor Carrie Schweitzer.

Arthropods, which include crabs, insects, lobsters, spiders, millipedes and ticks, are a large part of the Earth's ecosystem, and they also are important economically in many countries as a source of food, Schweitzer said.

In addition, crabs have been remarkably resistant against extinction.

"Our goal is to determine why they have been so resistant, so we might be able to better fight modern extinctions," added Schweitzer.

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