Anomalocarid
Vendor: Gold Bugs
SKU Number: SQ7265522
An Anomalocaris raptorial appendage from the famous Middle Cambrian “Red Beds” of the Wheeler Shale, Utah. This faint but large appendage is a sought after addition to any collection as it represents the planet’s first apex predator. The appendage still shows good detail even in its slightly weathered condition.
Full dimensions are listed below.
Vendor: Gold Bugs
SKU Number: SQ7265522
An Anomalocaris raptorial appendage from the famous Middle Cambrian “Red Beds” of the Wheeler Shale, Utah. This faint but large appendage is a sought after addition to any collection as it represents the planet’s first apex predator. The appendage still shows good detail even in its slightly weathered condition.
Full dimensions are listed below.
Vendor: Gold Bugs
SKU Number: SQ7265522
An Anomalocaris raptorial appendage from the famous Middle Cambrian “Red Beds” of the Wheeler Shale, Utah. This faint but large appendage is a sought after addition to any collection as it represents the planet’s first apex predator. The appendage still shows good detail even in its slightly weathered condition.
Full dimensions are listed below.
Additional Information
Anomalocaris was a predatory Radiodont with raptorial fore-limbs. It had been thought that Anomalocaris fed on hard-bodied animals and was able to penetrate the mineralized exoskeleton of trilobites. This has recently been put into question and recent research suggests they may have had a diet of soft bodied arthropods instead.
The Radiodonts were a group of Arthropods that appeared early in the Cambrian and appear to have been the first free-swimming raptorial predators, a role subsequently taken on by animals such as Sharks, Fish, Squid, and marine Tetrapods, which appeared to place them firmly at the top of the Cambrian food-chain. These Radiodonts had rather complex exoskeletons, which tended to become disarticulated before being preserved.
Recently, large Radiodonts from the early Cambrian have been discovered that have feeding organs adapted not for raptorial predation but for filter feeding. Filter feeding has repeatedly appeared in the largest members of other groups of raptorial marine predators, including Sharks, Whales and several types of Fish, making this a predictable occurrence in large raptorial Radiodonts, a view that was supported by the discovery of a second such species, the two meter long Aegirocassis from the Early Ordovician.
References:
Anomalocaris
Pahvantia hastata - Sciency Thoughts
Pahvantia hastata - University of New England
