I have started a
new list of subjects to research and possibly write a blog about. I get these
ideas from on-line and magazine articles that I read; sometimes I jot down the
article subject, or a phrase, or just a word I’m not familiar with.
Hallucigenia is
one of those last ones. If I had realized how many MORE words I would have to
look up just to make sense of the wikipedia article on this extinct animal...
However, I’m
trying to expand my science knowledge, so let’s get on with this.
Hallucigenia is
a genus of lobopodian worms from the Cambrian period, which lasted from about
541 million years ago to 485 million years ago. The Cambrian period is known
for its explosion of new creatures, as nature explored all the different
variations it could think of.
Hallucigenia was
discovered as articulated fossils in shale-type deposits in Canada and China, and
isolated spines have been found around the world. Even so, trying to
reconstruct what they looked like was difficult. In fact, the first attempt
showed the creature upside down and said the front was the back.
I probably would
have made the same mistakes. First of all, these creatures were only 3/16 to
1-3/8 inch long. It kind of amazes me that anybody even noticed them. To try
and imagine what they looked like, start with a worm about that long. Put 7 or
8 pairs of short, flexible appendages down the length of it. Now, flip it over,
and put pairs of longer, stiff appendages down the other side of it. The ‘head’
and ‘tail’ are pretty much identical. Which appendages are the legs?
The first
reconstruction attempt placed the pairs of stiff appendages as the feet because
half the flexible appendages were still hidden in dirt. But once the other
flexible appendages were discovered, it made sense to put them on the bottom.
Flexible legs are easier to use, and stiff ‘spines’ offer some protection.
And, by the way,
each foot ends with a claw.
I found no
information on whether these were marine or land creatures, what they ate, what
might have eaten them...
Now that I’ve
researched these creatures, how could I possibly use this information? I
suppose I could have a bare-footed colonist step on one, and strange chemicals
from the creature are introduced through the spines now buried deep in the
colonist’s foot? Or maybe on another planet, these creatures got larger and
became the dominant, intelligent species? That might be interesting. How would you
incorporate them?
