Hallucigenia - A Sea Creature of the Cambrian
Hallucigenia sparsa was a creature that lived in the seas during the Cambrian period. It was up to 3 cm. long and had spikes and appendages. Fossils of Hallucigenia have been found in the Burgess Shale Formation of Canada.
Hallucigenia had these physical attributes:
Seven pincer-like tentacles on one side and seven pairs of jointed spines on the other. [Note - Six of these tentacles are paired with spines. However, one is in front of the spines.]
A tube-like extension behind the tentacles.
The part that apparently was the head does not seem to have had eyes or a mouth. So the question has been asked: How did Hallucigenia feed? Simon Conway Morris has come up with a theory that a hollow tube inside each of the tentacles may have been a mouth. Morris officially named Hallucigenia in 1979.
Hallucigenia has been tentarively placed in the phylum Onychophora. This is a phylum that is composed of segmented animals that are somewhat similar to caterpillars. They resemble both annelid worms and arthropods. However, many paleontologists doubt that Hallucigenia should be considered a member of Onychophora.
Neal Robbins
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