Anomalocaris

***Anomalocaris*** (name meaning "*Abnormal Shrimp*") is a genus of radiodont that originated during the Early Cambrian Era in what is now North America, Asia, and Australia. Measuring two meter in length and the largest of its family, this arthropod-like sea monster is known for having been dubbed "*the world's original super-predator*".

In the Series 1 episode "***Water Dwellers***" four Anomalocaris were brought to the park from Early Cambrian North America, 530 million years ago. They reside in the Primeval Aquarium Enclosure.

## Facts

### Era & Discovery

*Anomalocaris* lived in North America, Asia, and Australia during the Early to Middle Cambrian Era, from 530 to 499 million years ago. Being "*Earth's first super predator*", *Anomalocaris* was by far the apex and largest predator of its entire ecosystem. *Anomalocaris* was also one of the most successful animals of the Cambrian period; having a worldwide distribution and survived over 30 million years. Although at the top of the food chain for their time, *Anomalocaris* and the family of which it is the namesake (Anomalocarids) is part of a lost line of Cambrian Period 'evolutionary experiments', that were in a sense evolutionary dead-ends. They did not survive into the Ordovician Period, and they seem to have been replaced by superior Arthropod predators such as the Eurypterids and the true arachnid Scorpions.

Even so, in its time, Anomalocaris was the king of the seas, and the only other creature on the planet that any given Anomalocaris would fear, would have been just another Anomalocaris. The evidence for Anomalocaris originally comes from the Burgess Shales Formation of Canada, and more recently from Australia and China. There are fantastically well preserved specimens, and they are an awesome to behold, considering that they are 300 million years older than any Dinosaur and yet seem to have been deposited within our lifetime they are so exquisitely detailed in their preservation.

### Physical Attributes

*Anomalocaris* was truly gigantic compared with the other animals of its ecosystem. Measuring 50 cm - 2 m (6.56 ft) in length, these mighty, spineless monsters owed their success to a monumental, evolutionary land mark: their compound eyes, which had around 30 thousand lenses. These eyes may have looked bizarre, but they were not unique. Many other predators during the *Anomalocaris* time had also evolved eyes, and so did their prey.

### Behavior & Traits

*Anomalocaris* had an exclusively carnivorous diet, hunting virtually everything and anything it could tackle, including the trilobites. When hunting, they would swim above the ocean floor, find their prey, and shred it in three rings of teeth. *Anomalocaris* is known to have eaten trilobites, as indicated by bite marks in his prey of the right size and shape; trilobite remnants in *Anomalocaris* droppings also have been found.

Even though it was the apex predator of its time, the only threat to the existence of *Anomalocaris* was another *Anomalocaris*. In the crowded waters of the Cambrian, the defenses of *Anomalocaris* were constantly put to the test. When fighting, these creatures would ram into each other and then use their sharp appendages to bend their opponent and cause it to bleed out. Because *Anomalocaris* has rigid armor, it would split if it was bent too far.