Behold, the Anomalocaridid! It would certainly seem to fit the part of a devious alien mother-ship occupant intent on summer blockbuster box-office domination. Actually, it is believed to be the world's largest predator in the late Cambrian and early Ordovician periods, about 472 - 542 million years ago.
The fearsome looking Anomalocaridid might have been up to 6 feet long and was at the very top of the food chain until more advanced creatures such as the way cool Sea Scorpion knocked it into oblivion.
But maybe it didn't quite happen that way. Maybe the Anomalocardids evolved and decided they needed a change of scenery from their muddy ocean floor abode. Possibly tired of dining on starfish, mollusks and the occasional crustacean, maybe they decided on the stars as their destination. After waving goodbye those silly Sea Scorpions and their ilk, could our wily Anomalocardids have tested out their newly invented hyper-drive? And now, after all these years, maybe they've come back to check out the old neighborhood and perhaps experiment on a few cows and express their artistic abilities in wheat fields.
Or not.
So the next time you are feasting on some succulent shrimp, just remember: 500 million years ago, the roles could have been reversed.
Yikes. Just imagine one sitting on top of you >_< Especially with their mouths! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Laggania_cambria_02.jpg Time for eldritch abomination nightmares.
ReplyDeleteha - yeah, that is pretty Lovecraftian.
ReplyDeleteOh, man, I have a scene in my novel where someone is attacked by a giant fish at the bottom of a lake... too bad I didn't know about this thing earlier. I would have made it the attacker. *g* Alas, I already sent the story off to the editor.
ReplyDeleteSo no sea monster vagina dentata attacks in that story then. Good to know :P
ReplyDeleteOn second thought, a giant fish is still monstrous. But with a less likely vagina dentata-ey mouth. Probably still has a lot of dentata, although perhaps a little less freaky. But it sounds like an awesome scene :D
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic. The sea scorpion, too.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to trolling back through your Weird Wednesday posts. I love weird - especially when it's science/history based.
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks li! There should be a lot more weirdness to come, too :)
ReplyDelete