In the Aculifera–Conchifera model of molluscan evolution, spiculate aplacophorans and polyplacophorans witha dorsal series of shell plates are recognised as sister groups within the clade Aculifera, itself a sister group of theclade Conchifera that contains all other molluscs. While aculiferans and conchiferans had their common originnear the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary, the crown groups of most major molluscan classes are seen traditionallyto have emerged in the latest Cambrian (Furongian)–Early Ordovician. Matthevia Walcott, 1885, from the latestFurongian–Early Ordovician of Laurentia, has been regarded almost universally as the oldest undoubted fossil chiton,a palaeoloricate. Palaeoloricates, however, are paraphyletic and Matthevia is variously interpreted as a time indicatorfor the origin of crown group Aculifera, within either the stem or crown groups of Aplacophora or Polyplacophora.The discovery of rare disarticulated plates from the early Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) of North Greenland(Laurentia) extends the geological record of palaeoloricates by about 25 Ma. In bridging the gap between lower stemgroup aculiferans and the occurrence of Matthevia, the new finds offer the potential for a corresponding earlier originof both aplacophorans and polyplacophorans within the aculiferan crown group. Head and intermediate plates aredescribed from the Aftenstjernesø Formation and placed within a new taxon proposed as Qaleruaqia sodermanorumgen. et sp. nov. • Key words: Mollusca, Aculifera, palaeoloricate, Cambrian Series 2, North Greenland, Laurentia.