Big-Headed Predator 100 years in the making

Galvasean

Dating over 500million years old the mysterious Hurdia victoria has finally been properly reconstructed by scientists after being originally discovered nearly 100 years ago.
lthough what it's massive head 'shield' was used for is still something of a mystery. One idea is that it used it as a sort o funnel to bring prey closer to it's mouth. Bear in mind it was one of tha biggest predators in the world at the time... ...about 30 or 40centimetres long.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090319-bizarre-predator-picture.html

Capt'n Midnight

Galvasean wrote:

though what it's massive head 'shield' was used for is still something of a mystery

it's just Anomalocaris in disguise

Galvasean

Anomalocaris in new hat shocker! :eek:

dlofnep

That's a peculiar looking thing.

Wibbs

I remember as a fossil mad kid being fascinated by the Burgess Shale revelations. Even today, many years later that glimpse into Cambrian life is still fascinating and still surprising.

Capt'n Midnight

Wibbs wrote: »

I remember as a fossil mad kid being fascinated by the Burgess Shale revelations. Even today, many years later that glimpse into Cambrian life is still fascinating and still surprising.

The creatures from the Burgess Shale are stranger than most aliens you see in Sci-Fi and compared to them dinosaurs are boringly similar. They remind me of something Dougal said

"They say it's as big as four cats, and it's got a retractable leg so as it can leap up at you better and you know what Ted, it lights up at night, and it's got four ears. Two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears, and it's claws are as big as cups and for some reason it's got a tremendous fear of stamps and Mrs. Doyle was tellin' me that it's got magnets on it's tail so as if you're made out of metal it can attach itself to you, and instead of a mouth it's got four arses. "




Our ancestor is the white guy on the right.