#nectocaris

Tales of Earth

3. Nectocaris

A cool tidal stream brings nutrients back from the depths to the seashore. The shores of the sole ocean, Panthalassa, bristle with life in all shapes and colours. Having first appeared over 100 million years ago, sponges rose to prominence at the beginning of the Cambria, becoming the main reef builders of that era. The most successful group is Archecyacha. The secret of their success is the mineral skeleton which persists after their death. This allows every new sponge to build on the legacy of the previous one. Generation after generation, vast reefs are formed.

The appearance of those reefs has given the safe haven for all kinds of small animals. The ubiquitous sponge carcasses provide abundant hiding places from large predators.

This nectocaris has spent its whole life in these waters. Its soft body allows it to flow easily through the narrowest spaces in search of food as it does now. But this time there's a problem. Two stalked eyes detect the shadow of a slowly approaching predator. Isoxis is small enough to maneure between the sponges which places it on the top of the food chain

Instincts tell that it is too late to hide from being grabbed by two arthropod appendages. In the sudden move, Nectocaris starts to move forward.

"Enter the Omnidens" Nectocaris/Vetulicola/Omnidens Cambrian, 519 million years ago, Maotianshan Shales (China) In Cambrian China, there existed the biggest beast of the Cambrian period, at a whopping *five feet long!* It was Omnidens: A giant lobopod that undoubtedly terrorized the seafloor, dwarfing practically every other organism it came across. During the Cambrian, eyes became commonplace. As such, I've decided to show bioluminescent bacteria, who now have an audience to witness their glow - which is what is attracting Omnidens to its prey; Vetulicola. We have no fucking idea what Vetulicola was, but seemingly eyeless, these individuals might not be aware that they're currently serving as a beacon for all to see. Omnidens isn't particularly agile, but nights like these when many Vetulicola gather are a bounty for it nonetheless. Trailing the Omnidens for scraps are two Nectocaris, strange mollusks that, oddly enough, were shell-less, converging on a bodyplan similar to cephalopods.