In Depth Ovatiovermis is loosely termed a naked lobopodian, this is because the body of this creature was soft and not covered in armoured plates. Lobopodians like Ovatiovermis are so called because their limbs, called lobopods, are fleshy tube like appendages. Ovatiovermis had nine pairs of these lobopods, arranged into three distinct groups. The first … Read more
In Depth Microdictyon is a genus of Cambrian worm-like animal that lived on sea floors across the world. Further Reading - Early Cambrian lobopodian sclerites and associated fossils from Kazakhstan. - Palaeontology. 46: 93. - J. dzik - 2003. - New Cambrian lobopods and chaetognaths of the Siberian Platform. - Paleontological Journal. 40 (3): 234–243. … Read more
In Depth Hallucigenia was first identified as the Cambrian aquatic worm Canadia by Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1911. However a study of the Canadia fossils by Simon Conway Morris in 1977 brought to light the discovery that the fossils did not represent the same creature. Because of its bizarre appearance of spikes and tentacles, Conway … Read more
In Depth Cloudina is one of those Cambrian animals that is both very exciting in evolutionary terms, yet much mystery still surrounds it. Cloudina represents one of the first examples of a creature known to have had a hard mineralised shell, and before the discovery of this genus, all other known creatures of the Ediacaran … Read more
In Depth Siphusauctum is a genus of filter feeding animal that lived on sea floors during the mid Cambrian era. Roughly shaped like a bell pepper on a stick, the main body of Siphusauctum was attached to the sea floor with a hold fast. With the body held up off the sea floor, Siphusauctum passed … Read more
In Depth Mimetaster is a genus of arthropod that lived during the early Devonian period. Further Reading - The arthropods Mimetaster and Vachonisia from the Devonian Hunsr�ck Shale. - Pal�ontologische Zeitschrift. 50 (1): 78–111. - W. St�rmer & J. Bergstr�m - 1976. - Re-investigation of Mimetaster hexagonalis: a marrellomorph arthropod from the Lower Devonian Hunsr�ck … Read more
In Depth While most ammonites had shells that wound tightly in a spiral, Diplomoceras was more unusual. The shells starts out straight before making a U-bend, then growing out back the other way before making another U-bend around. The shell then continues growing again until making yet another U-bend and turning back on itself, extending … Read more
In Depth Capinatator is a prehistoric form of what we today would call an arrow worm. Capinatator had a ten centimetre long elongated body, while around the head fifty, one centimetre long hooked spines grew around the edges of a very rudimentary mouth. These spines flared out so that as Capinatator swam through the water, … Read more
In Depth Yuknessia is a genus of algae that would have played a very important part in the shallow Mid Cambrian seas. Algae’s like Yuknessia would have created their own food supplies via the process of photosynthesis, and by doing so, extract carbon dioxide from the water while releasing oxygen, making survival conditions much more … Read more
In Depth The discovery of Saccorhytus was also the discovery of one of the oldest animal lifeforms on the planet. Saccorhytus had a small round body that measured up to 1.3 millimetres across, with a mouth opening very large for the size of the body. At the time of its description there was no other … Read more