The discovery of an older soft bodied fossil site in China, the Chengjiang fauna, in 1984, has shed new light on the mystery of Hallucigenia . Close examination of the figure will reveal plates along the trunk containing short spines. This animal is a member of the phylum Onychophora. It differs from Hallucigenia sparsa by having shorter spines, frontal limbs, and head shields. It is clear from this reconstruction that uncertainties remain about Hallucigenia .
Questions remain about the head and tail orientation of the animal.
It is shown here with the head on the right, although the head is not bulbous as was shown in early reconstructions. It has been suggested that Hallucigenia was a scavanger or perhaps a predator. Hallucigenia will continue to intrigue scientists as they continue to try and understand the many wonderful and mysterious animals of the Burgess Shale. A Cambrian gilled lobopod from Greenland. A new metazoan from the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia.