#But yeah I love these weird stem-arthropods so damn much | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

miraphoenix · 5 years ago

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I know they’re like. One of the most popular groups from the Cambrian Explosion, and are often awesome-bro’ed (if awesome-bros get invested in stem-arthropods)?

But I really do love the radiodonts. I love them so much, I think they’re just so hecking cool? They were so often the first experiment in filling niches we now take for granted, and I wish we still had them around.

#phoenix sounds #radiodonts #I'm still in the habit of calling them anomalocaridids whoops #I saw a talk at SICB 2018 about Anomalocaris canadensis' tailfin being used for lift and pulsing speed #And got so excited I almost cried #(There is a picture of me somewhere online ugly-crying over an A. canadensis at the Smithsonian)#But yeah I love these weird stem-arthropods so damn much???#With ones like Aegirocassis that were filter-feeding?#I desperately want to know if their headshield was used for providing lift #And counteracting the drag caused by filter-feeding #The idea that some hurdiids were filter-feeding the mud like modern gray whales #Blew me out of the water and is still absolutely wild to me!#gd! I wish we had these creatures here today!#They're marvelous and magical and what I wouldn't give to see one swimming...!!#Even the ideas of their behaviors are sending me to tears

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