Anomalocaris

GRI #12-2

• Anomalocaris is one of the largest predators found in Cambrian layers, with a body length reaching up to one meter, and possessed a unique combination of features, including large eyes, grasping appendages, and a circular mouth with sharp spines.

• Its body is so uniquely designed that, for years, scientists thought the various body parts were completely separate organisms. The mouth area was thought to be a jellyfish, the appendages of its face were thought to be shrimp, and its body had been described as both a sea cucumber and a jellyfish on top of a sponge.

• It wasn’t until the 1980s that Harry Whittington discovered that these diverse creatures were actually pieces of one large organism.

• Anomalocaris comes from the Greek word, anomoios, and the Latin word caris, “crab” or “shrimp,” which roughly translates as “unlike other shrimp.” But it is uncanny that the name also reflects the term, anomaly, meaning abnormal and irregular.

Reference:
Royal Ontario Museum, 2023. Anomalocaris canadensis. The Burgess Shale. https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/anomalocaris-canadensis/