Largest Facts of the Burgess Shale

The largest known animal of the Burgess Shale is Anomalocaris and this undisputed fact is often the first fact mentioned on any site that discusses the facts we know about this (as the Smithsonian calls it) proto-arthropod. The scale shared yesterday considers the largest known specimens of the genus; however, related and possible members of the genus recovered from China approach 1.8 m (6 ft) long. The scale on Prehistoric Wildlife's page detailing Anomalocaris does show what a nearly 6 foot animal would look like compared to an average human. The page also has a rather extensive list of suggested reading; this constitutes a good source of papers for getting ahead of those papers that will be shared on Tuesday. The page also contains a rather extensive description of the history of the animal's discovery and description of Anomalocaris.

The best image of Anomalocaris on a fact page is probably the illustration on DKfindout's encyclopedia page, though the page itself does not share as much detailed information as either the Smithsonian or Prehistoric Wildlife pages. This illustration makes the eyes of Anomalocaris very obvious, though the page does not directly address the interesting optic organs. Luckily, though, scientists have noticed that this Cambrian predator (or potential filter feeder) has well developed eyes. Discover Magazine's Ed Yong authored an article just over 6 years ago wrote a scientific journalism article detailing the first detailed discovery and description of Anomalocaris eyes by John Paterson of the University of New England (in Australia, not the northeastern United States). Doctor Paterson discovered, in a massive number of Anomalocaris fossils from southern Australia's Emu Bay Shale deposits, a pair of sophisticated compound eyes containing an estimated 16,700 lenses on the best preserved surface; estimations of total eye coverage may be discussed later this week providing I can find such information.