Anomalocaris

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Anomalocaris (from Ancient Greek ανώμαλος, meaning "anomalous", and καρίς, meaning "shrimp", with the intended meaning "unlike other shrimp") is an extinct genus of radiodont, an order of early-diverging stem-group marine arthropods. It is best known from the type species A. canadensis, found in the Stephen Formation (particularly the Burgess Shale) of British Columbia, Canada. The other named species A. daleyae is known from the somewhat older Emu Bay Shale of Australia. Other unnamed Anomalocaris species are known from China and the United States. Like other radiodonts, Anomalocaris had swimming flaps running along its body, large compound eyes densely packed with lenses, and a single pair of segmented, frontal appendages, which in Anomalocaris were used to grasp prey. Estimated to reach 34.2–37.8 cm (13.5–14.9 in) long excluding the frontal appendages and tail fan, Anomalocaris is one of the largest animals of the Cambrian, and thought to be one of the earliest examples of an apex predator...

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