Omnidens

Common card · No. 312877

Omnidens, meaning "all-tooth", is an extinct genus of large Cambrian panarthropod known only from a series of large mouth apparatus and sclerotized talon-like structures, originally mistaken as the mouthparts of anomalocaridids. When first named, it was interpreted as a giant priapulid, but is now considered a panarthropod. Its mouth apparatus closely resembles that of the smaller gilled lobopodian Pambdelurion, indicating it is likely to have been a close relative of that species. With a maximum estimated body length of 1.5 metres (4.9 ft), Omnidens is suggested to have been the largest known free-living Cambrian organism and likely apex predator. Omnidens fossils are found in the Maotianshan Shales in the Yunnan Province of southern China, and are especially abundant from the slightly younger Xiaoshiba Lagerstätte locality.

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