Anomalocaris

Full Name: Anomalocaris (various species names)

Pronunciation: An-om-ah-low-car-us

Meaning: Abnormal Shrimp

Geological Layer: Cambrian

Baramin: Anomalocarid?

Habitat: Shallow Cambrian seas

Era: Pre-Fall-Flood, 6,000-4,350 years ago

Pre-Fall Diet: Plants

Post-Fall Diet: Carnivore

Length: 6 ft.

Height: N/A

Weight: N/A

Description:

Anomalocaris was a ferocious arthropod predator of the Cambrian seas. It looked rather like a giant shrimp, hence its name. But unlike a shrimp, it has strange compound eyes. They might look bizarre, but they're not unique in the animal kingdom. God also designed this arthropod with a pair of tentacle-like “arms” that extended downward from its head.

History:

First mistakenly identified as a jellyfish, Anomalocaris was described by Joseph Frederick Whiteaves in 1892 as a species of arthropod similar to a crustacean. They have been discovered in Utah, Canada, China and Australia among other places. These fossils were obviously formed during Noah's Flood when the ocean covered all of the continents.

Taxonomy:

Anomalocaris was part of the anomalocarid family. This is probably its baramin, but for now, creationists are unsure.

Paleobiology:

Anomalocaris had strange-looking compound eyes similar to ones seen on insects today.

One of the most amazing features of Anomalocaris is its large compound eyes that are mounted on stalks upon its head. Many insects today have compound eyes as well. The compound eyes of this arthropod were 30 times more powerful than that of the contemporary trilobites they fed on. The eyes were also 1.2 inches wide.

Anomalocaris' arm-like appendages hanging from its head were quite flexible and could be used to grapple prey. One of its main sources of food would probably have been trilobites in the pre-Flood era. It is unknown exactly what it ate in the pre-Fall era, but we know from scripture that it ate plants, just like the other animals.

This creature also had fins along each side of its body that held stabilize it in the water.

Popular Culture:

While by far not the most famous of the extinct animals, Anomalocaris has made its appearance in BBC's Walking with Monsters (2005), in which they are portrayed as predators of trilobites and are rather territorial. The documentary also depicts them as being vulnerable to smaller animals when their carapace becomes split. Haikouichthys, a small fish of the Cambrian, seems to find Anomalocaris a tasty meal option.

Image Gallery:

Anomalocaris (top) feasting on a trilobite.

The fossilized tentacle of an Anomalocaris.