#cambrian explosion

Haikouichthys ercaicunensis was one of the earliest known vertebrates, living in what is now southwestern China during the Cambrian, around 518 million years ago.

About 2.5cm long (~1"), it had a streamlined body with a long fin along its back and tail. It lacked limbs and jaws, but it did have a flexible "upper lip" that could potentially have been used to manipulate food particles, either engulfing them on the seafloor or stirring them up into the water for filter-feeding.

And a recent study revealed a big surprise — it had four eyes! Along with its already-known large sideways-facing pair of eyes, it also had another smaller upwards-facing pair in the middle of its face, giving it a much wider field of vision and the ability to watch out for predators from multiple angles at once.

The extra pair of eyes may be the evolutionary precursors to the pineal complex in later vertebrates — represented in modern forms by the pineal gland and the parietal eye.

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SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

the most helpful Cambrian creature...an Anomalocaris pencil holder! :D I absolutely love how these turned out, she just hangs out on my desk all day until I need my pen again- what a sweetie!

Anomalocaris pencil holders are available in my store now, as well as STL files if you'd like to 3D print your own at home! :D

More Anomalocaris have been created!

take me back to the cambrian explosion

If you have no opinion on this/don't like ancient history prehistoric periods/etc, choose Quaternary.

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⋆｡°✩Cambrian Aero⋆｡°✩