Abstract: Fossils of Orsten-type preservation represented by the crustacean Skaracarida and Phosphatocopida were found in western Hunan, South China in 2005, including the important phosphatocopid species Vestrogothia spinata based on exquisitely preserved soft-bodied specimens that allow the first growth stage to be reestablished. The taxonomy of Vestrogothia spinata is revised employing the character of a two-divided limb stem of the mandible. A new foundation for the phylogeny of the Phosphatocopina using mandible characters related to crustacean appendages is postulated. Vestrogothia spinata has only previously been found from Sweden.