Podcasts about anomalocaris

Prehistoric animals were so wild, they'd fit right into a sci-fi movie! The Therizinosaurus had massive claws that looked like something from an alien invader—perfect for scaring off predators. Then there was the Anomalocaris, a shrimp-like creature with big, bulging eyes and spiky appendages that made it look more alien than oceanic. The Quetzalcoatlus was a flying reptile the size of a small plane, soaring through the skies like something straight out of another world. Don't forget the Opabinia, with five eyes and a weird grabber nose—it's like nature got super creative. These ancient creatures remind us that Earth's history is filled with beings as strange and fascinating as anything from outer space! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Fossil Huntress Podcast. Today, we're taking a journey half a billion years back in time to one of the most extraordinary fossil sites on the planet — the Burgess Shale — nestled high in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada.So close your eyes and fly with me up to the top of North America, find Canada's far western shores then head east. If you were driving from Vancouver to Burgess in Yoho National park the trip takes about 9 hours. But as we are flying, we arrive rather instantly. This site isn't just famous — it's legendary. Why? Because the Burgess Shale preserves an astonishingly detailed snapshot of early life on Earth, dating back to the Middle Cambrian, about 508 million years ago. The creatures found here represent some of the earliest complex life forms — a mind-blowing cast of characters from a time when life was exploding in diversity and complexity. Think of it as nature's original experiment lab, full of alien-looking arthropods, spiny worms, bizarre filter feeders, and some of the earliest chordates — animals that share our evolutionary ancestry.Some of the headliners include:Anomalocaris – a meter-long predator with grasping appendages and a circular mouth lined with teeth. It looks like something straight out of a sci-fi film.Opabinia – with five eyes and a long proboscis, it's one of the weirdest creatures ever discovered.Wiwaxia, Hallucigenia, Marrella – each one stranger than the last.And then there's Pikaia, a tiny, worm-like creature with a notochord — a feature shared by all vertebrates. That includes you and me. It's one of the earliest known members of our own evolutionary lineage.What Do These Fossils Tell Us?The Burgess Shale helps us understand the Cambrian Explosion, that dramatic moment in Earth's history when most major animal groups first appeared.It shows us that early life was more diverse — and stranger — than we ever imagined. Evolution involves a lot of experimentation — many of the creatures found here left no descendants. Even tiny creatures like Pikaia played a major role in our own evolutionary history.It's a story of ancient oceans, evolutionary innovation, and a delicate moment frozen in shale. A time capsule from a world we barely recognize — yet one that gave rise to us all.You can visit the fossils. There are three main hikes:Walcott Quarry Hike – This is the classic. A full-day, 21 km round-trip hike with stunning views and up-close looks at where Charles Doolittle Walcott first discovered these fossils in 1909.Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds – A bit shorter but still steep, this hike rewards you with a literal ground covered in trilobites!Stanley Glacier Hike in Kootenay National Park – A more recent site with new discoveries and another great option to experience the Burgess Shale in the wild.The hikes are moderately to very strenuous, and must be booked in advance through Parks Canada's website. The guides are knowledgeable interpreters — often geologists or paleontologists themselves — and they bring the whole story to life.I highly recommend visiting Yoho National Park and joining one of those hikes. Standing on that mountainside, with half-a-billion years of history beneath your boots, is a humbling, awe-inspiring experience.

Welcome to The Fossil Huntress Podcast—your window into the deep time of ancient oceans, lost worlds, and beautiful traces left behind. I'm your host, Heidi Henderson, coming to you from the rain-kissed coastline of British Columbia on Canada's far western shores.Today on the show, we're diving into one of the most iconic fossils of all time: trilobites—those segmented, alien-looking creatures that once ruled our ancient seas.So grab a cup of something warm, cozy up, and let's take a journey—travelling in time way back more than half a billion years.Highlights from the Show...One of the most famous trilobite sites in the world is Burgess Shale in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. While the Burgess is better known for its soft-bodied creatures like Anomalocaris and Hallucigenia, it also preserved some incredibly detailed trilobites, like Olenoides serratus.You can actually see their legs preserved—a rare thing in the fossil record!Farther east, in Manitoba, you'll find Isotelus rex, the largest complete trilobite ever discovered. This big boy stretched 70 centimeters long—over two feet! Isotelus roamed the ancient Ordovician seas that once covered much of central Canada. Imagine snorkeling and coming face-to-face with one of those…Fun Trilobite FactsTrilobites were among the first animals to develop complex eyes. Some had excellent vision, while others were blind—adapted to deep, dark ocean floors.They molted their exoskeletons like modern-day crabs. That's why we find so many trilobite fossils—many are actually molted skins, not full bodies.Some species rolled up into tight balls, just like modern pill bugs—a defense mechanism against predators.Over 20,000 species of trilobites have been identified, making them one of the most diverse fossil groups ever.Wrap UpTrilobites are more than just pretty fossils; they're storytellers, time travelers in stone. And they continue to surprise us.If you ever find yourself walking an ancient seafloor—maybe on the shores of Newfoundland, the cliffs of Anticosti Island, or the dry bed of a long-gone sea in Manitoba—keep your eyes open. You might just meet a trilobite, frozen mid-crawl in a 400-million-year-old journey.Thanks for joining me, my fossil friends. Until next time, keep seeking, keep wondering, and keep listening to the whispers of the stone.

Lets head back to the beginning of life on land in the Silurian over 400 million years ago, before visiting the amazing sea creatures of the Cambrian 510 Million years ago. Species that appeared in this episode include: Cooksonia, Prototaxites, Vauxia gracilenta, Pirania muricata, Eiffelia globose, Thaumaptilon walcotti, Anomalocaris, Opabinia, Hallucigenia, Olenoides serratus, and Wiwaxia […]

In Noord-Groenland zijn de meer dan 518 miljoen jaar oude fossielen van een nieuwe diersoort gevonden. Het gaat om een grote worm met flinke kaken.   Het dier kreeg de naam Timorebestia, terror beest in Latijn. Nou is het met 30 centimeter misschien iets minder beestachtig dan je had verwacht, destijds was het één van de grootste zwemmende roofdieren en mogelijk één van de eerste vleeseters. Het was, zeg maar, de haai van z'n tijd.  De worm had vinnen, een antenne op zijn hoofd en dus die flinke kaken. Pijlwormen zijn de meest verwante nog levende familieleden. Al zijn die tegenwoordig een stuk kleiner en hebben ze niet langer kaken, maar buitenboordborstels om prooi mee te vangen.   De grote worm was toen der tijd niet het enige roofdier in zee, die plek moest hij onder andere delen met de Anomalocaris. Een opmerkelijk beestje dat moeilijk te omschrijven is, maar misschien nog wel het meest lijkt op een garnaal-inktvis-duizendpoot-zeekomkommer-combi. Nouja, zoek maar even op.   De onderzoekers konden zelfs zien wat er in de buik van hun fossiele megaworm zat: de restanten van een geleedpotige uit die tijd genaamd Isoxys. Bijzonder, want dit soort dingen blijven zelden goed genoeg bewaard.   In de omgeving waar deze ontdekking is gedaan vonden ze nog veel meer niet eerder ontdekte diersoorten. Op sommige van die verhalen moeten we nog even wachten, die onderzoeken zijn nog in volle gang. Lees hier meer over het onderzoek: ‘Giant' predator worms more than half a billion years old discovered in North GreenlandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, and welcome to our first real episode! Still not ranking anyone, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun talking shop! In this episode, we explore the most fundamental question of all: What is Music? Join us as we trace the evolutionary roots of human musicality from its origins in the animal kingdom through to its emergence with the dawn of self-aware upright bipeds. Finally, we'll resolve such time-honored questions as which came first; music or language, does that tree falling in the forest really make a sound, and which fast food joint is the best place to copyright your song! DIG IT! MASSIVE CAVEAT: This episode could not have existed without the tremendous research of the YouTuber Diacoustics. This episode borrows heavily from him, including several block quotations that are entirely his own. I make no claim to them, as it is his brilliant presentation that is at the heart of this episode, serving as its framework and intertwining with our own presentation. MODERATE CAVEAT: Yeah, we know. The audio's a bit rough. Please pardon the occasional echo/overlap and obvious edit points. We're new, so please don't count us a disgrace to classical music podcasting just yet. And don't blame our mastering guy. This is all Ronnie's fault. :) MINOR CAVEAT: Yes, I know we use the term “melody” in a rather cavalier fashion. Here we use the term in its widest possible context as a series of pitches occurring in succession to one another. We will define the term more properly when we arrive at Gregorian chant in episode 0d. MORE CAVEAR THAN CAVEAT: This episode is neither intended as an authoritative resource for either the mating behavior of Cambrian roundworms, nor as tax advice when dealing with Paleozoic apex predators. We waive all liability with respect to you messing with Anomalocaris. That's on you, bruh.

LOOP 2.1: We introduce episode two of Life On Our Planet and discuss our roles in its creation. We're down deep in the geological time with all the “crunchy and squishy” organisms. We talk about our favourite scenes, jellyfish reproduction and the proper pronunciation of cephalopod. Life On Our Planet (LOOP) is a new 8-part series created for Netflix by Silverback Films and Amblin Television. This Steven Spielberg produced series, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is hugely ambitious in its scope, telling the story of life throughout the whole Phanerozoic Eon. Ancient organisms and environments are painstakingly recreated by the supremely talented Industrial Light and Magic, whilst modern natural history scenes add vital context to the story. This show has been worked on for six years, during which time countless papers were read and around 150 different palaeontologists contributed their time and knowledge. The whole production had culture of letting the scientific research dictate scenes, resulting in one of the most accurate on-screen representations of prehistoric life there has ever been. And how do we know all this? Well, our very own team members Tom Fletcher and Dave Marshall have been embedded within the LOOP team since day one! We are therefore in a totally unique position to reveal to you the work that went into this series, from both the production and research side of things. In this unofficial series, we've been granted exclusive access to many of the people responsible for creating LOOP, we explore what it takes to create a palaeontological documentary and we delve deeper into the science with some of the show's academic advisors. Each day, we will be releasing batches of interviews, each relating to a specific episode of LOOP. Image courtesy and copyright of Netflix.

The gang discusses two papers that use Blender 3d modeling techniques (and other functional morphology techniques) to study arthropod morphology. The first paper looks at trilobite enrollment and the second paper looks at the anomalocaris great frontal appendages. Meanwhile, James likes horses, Amanda has some name ideas, and Curt fails to segue.   Up-Goer Five (Amanda Edition): Today our friends look at two papers that talk about things with legs that have many parts. The first paper looks at very old pretty large things with mouth legs that people can't decide if they were strong or not strong. The paper does lots of computer stuff to figure out just how strong the mouth legs are. They find that the mouth legs are not as strong as people thought they might be and so they did not eat things with very hard parts, probably, but things that were not hard at all. The second paper looks at how cute little things with legs that have many parts might have made themselves into balls. There are many ways that they might have made themselves into balls, with the way the head fits with the back end. They think only one or two were very good, and that it might have changed as the cute little things with legs that have many parts grew up.   References:  Esteve, Jorge, and Nigel C. Hughes. "Developmental and functional controls on enrolment in an ancient, extinct arthropod." Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290.2000 (2023): 20230871. Bicknell, Russell DC, et al.  "Raptorial appendages of the Cambrian apex predator Anomalocaris  canadensis are built for soft prey and speed." Proceedings of the royal society B 290.2002 (2023): 20230638.

Mammals are famous for their ability to produce milk, a special substance that is essential for providing newborns with the ingredients they need for healthy development. As it turns out, mammals aren't the only ones. Milk-like substances have evolved in many groups of animals which nourish their developing young. In this episode, we discuss what milk is, what it does, how it seems to have evolved, and the surprisingly long list of times animals have evolved the habit of providing nutritious fluids to feed their offspring. In the news: Anomalocaris diets, Asian alligators, ancient puberty, and the Cambrian Explosion. Time markers: Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00 News: 00:05:55 Main discussion, Part 1: 00:41:30 Main discussion, Part 2: 01:29:35 Patron question: 02:04:10 Check out our blog for bonus info and pictures: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Listen to David talk about snake paleontology on Snake Talk! https://www.oriannesociety.org/snake-talk/ Listen to Will and David discuss the evolution of flight on Little Curiosities! https://listen.qcodemedia.com/littlecuriosities We're an Audible Affiliate Partner! Use this link for a 30-day free trial to Audible: https://www.audibletrial.com/CommonDescent Or make a one-time donation via PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/4c68u4hp Find merch at the Common Descent Store! http://zazzle.com/common_descent Join the Common Descent Discord server! https://discord.gg/CwPBxdh9Ev Follow and Support us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonDescentPC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commondescentpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commondescentpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCePRXHEnZmTGum2r1l2mduw PodBean: https://commondescentpodcast.podbean.com/ You can email us at commondescentpodcast(at)gmail.com Or send us physical mail at: The Common Descent Podcast 1735 W State of Franklin Rd. Ste 5 #165 Johnson City, TN 37604 The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org. Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Die Themen der Wissensnachrichten: +++ Die Plastik-Teppiche auf den Weltmeeren machen Sturmvögeln zu schaffen +++ Die Erde hat wohl die bisher heißesten Tage seit Beginn der Wetteraufzeichnung erlebt +++ Eine ungewöhnliche Urzeit-Garnele mochte lieber weiche Beute +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds. Nature Communications, 04.07.2023Daily 2-meter Air Temperature. Climate Reanalyzer, University of Maine, abgerufen am 05.07.2023Disfluencies Revisited—Are They Speaker-Specific?, MDPI languages, 26.06.2023Detection of the cosmological time dilation of high-redshift quasars, Nature Astronomy, 03.07.2023Raptorial appendages of the Cambrian apex predator Anomalocaris canadensis are built for soft prey and speed. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 05.07.2023Verbraucher wissen nicht wohin mit ihrem Gold, gfu Consumer & Home Electronics, abgerufen am 05.07.2023**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: Tiktok und Instagram.**********Weitere Wissensnachrichten zum Nachlesen: https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/nachrichten

Join Adele on a wild ride through the Cambrian (510-500 million years ago) as we discuss the ancient apex predator Anomalocaris (a weird shrimpy boy with face fangs). We also touch on trilobite cannibalism, the advantages of compound eyes, building your own armour with biomineralisation and the first evolutionary arms race. Hold onto your butts! Links:Random Fossil FactHealed injuries in Early Cambrian trilobites from South AustraliaWorld's oldest known case of cannibalism revealed in trilobite fossilsTrilobite Fossils Suggest Cannibalism Is More Ancient Than Once ThoughtAnomalocarisThe sharp eyes of Anomalocaris, a top predator that lived half a billion years agoNew anatomical information on Anomalocaris from the Cambrian Emu Bay Shale of South Australia and a reassessment of its inferred predatory habitsAcute vision in the giant Cambrian predator Anomalocaris and the origin of compound eyesThe oral cone of Anomalocaris is not a classic ‘‘peytoia''This episode is brought to you by Dinosaur Trips! Explore the world and see the best museums, meet experts and even dig up real dinosaurs. For more info visit dinosaurtrips.com and email zach@dinosaurtrips.com about the Badlands and Beyond Trip.Dinosaur Trips It's been 66 million years. Why wait any longer? Join an upcoming trip!Pals in Palaeo @palsinpalaeoHost: Adele Pentland @palaeodelOnline StoreTranscriptsThe Pals in Palaeo Cover ArtJenny Zhao Design @jennyzdesignCrumpet Club House@crumpetclubhouse The Pals in Palaeo Theme MusicHello Kelly @hellokellymusic Podcast Producer + Editor Jean-César Puechmarin @cesar_on_safariPodcast EditorFrançois "Francy" Goudreault @hellofrancy

Pour cette semaine du 6 septembre : une tempête solaire qui pourrait couper internet, l'origine génétique des rayures des chats, les ambitions spatiales de la Chine, des découvertes pour lutter contre le cancer du poumon et des têtes nageuses. Bonne écoute, et bon week-end !

This week we're going far far back in time to talk about the anomalocaris, a strange looking arthropod from the Cambrian Period. They may look straight out of Star Wars, but they're actually an example of one of the first ever apex predators. Listen to learn more! If you'd like to support the show, please check out our merch store over on Etsy where we sell stickers, postcards, keychains, and hand-made needle-felted ornaments. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a rating and review. To stay up to date and see our weekly episode illustrations, make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Beyond Blathers is hosted and produced by Olivia deBourcier and Sofia Osborne, with art by Olivia deBourcier and music by Max Hoosier. This podcast is not associated with Animal Crossing or Nintendo, we just love this game!

The Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds now sit in the Main Ranges of the Rockies but were once at the bottom of shallow sea beds down near the edge of ancestral North America. Today, these outcrops in Yoho National Park contain wonderful Cambrian fossil goodies including the predator Anomalocaris canadensis; Trilobite species: Ogygopsis klotzi, Olenoides serratus and Elrathina Cordillerae; as well as, brachiopods and sponges. This is a hike that you can do as a family. To visit the beds virtually or to book a hike, visit: https://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/stephen-trilobite/

Welcome back to Wiped Out Wednesdays! Today we are talking about the ANOMALOCARIS was a super weird clusterf*ck of an animal that lived around 500 million years ago during the Cambrian Period. This thing was terrifying, weird-looking, but probably tasted delicious! Thank GOD it's Wiped Out though! If you don't like to listen to us you can WATCH US INSTEAD! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ltaca/support

This week on SWIFT BITES, we got a look at Owen Grady’s new look via Instagram, the Jurassic Outpost boys gave a nice round-up of new rumors for Jurassic World: Dominion on the InGeneral Podcast, and NPR gives us a chilling report at the state of the museum world during the era of COVID-19…Plus, you still have one week to enter a giveaway of paleontologist Ashley Hall’s new book, Fossils For Kids! Details below!STORIES:1. First look at Owen Grady in Dominion: https://twitter.com/movieposterguy/status/1285245337624440833?s=21Bonus 1. "Collider’s Director’s On Directing “Comic-Con At Home”: https://collider.com/jurassic-world-3-animatronic-dinosaurs-colin-trevorrow-interview/2. Jurassic World: Dominion rumor round-up via the InGeneral Podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jurassicworldorg-podcast/e/76270584Bonus 2. Daniella Pineda chats with Ben Kissel (from Last Podcast On The Left): https://open.spotify.com/episode/1o5HVvd0ZHlFkQYAZaDvEf?si=cTnDaTi0TIKCEMVFCLJ5SQ3. “One-Third Of U.S. Museums May Not Survive The Year, Survey Finds”: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/22/894049653/one-third-of-u-s-museums-may-not-survive-the-year-survey-finds?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0hOlAHULazIQ65YHn10mqXTnF7StdaJl-Ie0uHJ_4AkhkS3bJl2tA5WJ84. #ICYMI, on Canada Day this July, I was on Andrew Roebuck’s podcast, Triassic Park where a lovely bunch of us watched the 70s b-movie, YETI: Giant of the 20th Century, where an unfrozen Yeti creature terrorizes downtown Toronto: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yeti-giant-of-the-20th-century/id1514946817?i=1000481246972Enter to win a copy of paleontologist Ashley Hall’s new book, Fossils For Kids!1. In order to win a copy of Fossils For Kids, comment on social media @sjrpod or @seejurassicright (or on Facebook/Facebook group) with your favorite prehistoric non-dinosaur lifeforms (examples include Mosasaurus, Sabertooth cat, or even invertebrates like Anomalocaris aka giant shrimp boi of the Cambrian, and plants too like Glossopteris if you fancy!)2. You have until Friday, July 31st to enter. One entry per person, US and worldwide!3. Follow Ashley Hall @LadyNaturalist (This is not a requirement of the contest, but would be nice): https://twitter.com/LadyNaturalist and https://www.instagram.com/lady_naturalist/Listen to: https://sayswhopodcast.com/episodes/jurassicThis month's question: Are you excited for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous? What are you hoping to see from an animated Jurassic World tv show?Call to leave your response: (323) 688-6969 or send me an email:

On the first ever SWIFT BITES, a new weekly news series, we cover Bryce Dallas Howard’s bruises on the set of Jurassic World: Dominion, a Buzzfeed interview with the Jurassic Park parody account @JurassicPark2go, and the initial details on the boutique toy label, @MattelCreations! Plus, an announcement about a giveaway of paleontologist Ashley Hall’s new book, Fossils For Kids!This Week’s Stories:1. Bryce Dallas Howard’s Bruises: https://twitter.com/BryceDHoward/status/1283852227614879744?s=202. Buzzfeed interview with @JurassicPark2go: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/jurassic-park-twitter-account-creators3. https://twitter.com/JurassicPark2go4. New Boutique Mattel offshoot, Mattel Creations: https://www.instagram.com/mattelcreations/5. “MATTEL CREATIONS & THE FUTURE OF JURASSIC”: https://www.collectjurassic.com/071320-2/Enter to win a copy of paleontologist Ashley Hall’s new book, Fossils For Kids!1. In order to win a copy of Fossils For Kids, comment on social media @sjrpod or @seejurassicright (or on Facebook/Facebook group) with your favorite prehistoric non-dinosaur lifeforms (examples include Mosasaurus, Sabertooth cat, or even invertebrates like Anomalocaris aka giant shrimp boi of the Cambrian, and plants too like Glossopteris if you fancy!)2. You have until Friday, July 31st to enter. One entry per person, US and worldwide!3. Follow Ashley Hall @LadyNaturalist (This is not a requirement of the contest, but would be nice): https://twitter.com/LadyNaturalist and https://www.instagram.com/lady_naturalist/Listen to: https://sayswhopodcast.com/episodes/jurassicThis month's question: Are you excited for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous? What are you hoping to see from an animated Jurassic World tv show?Call to leave your response: (323) 688-6969 or send me an email: seejurassicright@gmail.comDonate to the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seejurassicright Follow along with the show:https://twitter.com/sjrpodhttps://www.instagram.com/seejurassicright/ https://www.facebook.com/seejurassicright/ https://twitter.com/stevenraymorrisFeaturing a cover of Randy Newman and Irma Thomas.Thank you to Caitlin Thompson & Tim Ruggeri, Molly McAleer, Heather Mason, Stephanie Cooke, Sara Iyer, and you!#staysafestayjurassic See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalocaris#/media/File:Anomalocaris2019.jpg) Host Matthew Donald and guest co-host Natasha Krech discuss Anomalocaris, the first super-predator in Earth's history, albeit "super" only compared to everything else at the time. From the Early Cambrian, this 3-foot radiodont ate plenty of delicious things while simultaneously looking delicious itself. Seriously, imagine this thing fried and breaded and served with cocktail sauce! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Also, you can purchase Matthew Donald's dinosaur book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. 

Wykład dr. Daniela Tyborowskiego, Muzeum Ziemi w Warszawie [9 lutego 2020] Dinozaury to największe wymarłe zwierzęta, jakie kiedykolwiek żyły na Ziemi. Nierzadko ciekawe przykłady olbrzymów można znaleźć również wśród bezkręgowców i ssaków. Opowiada o nich dr Daniel Tyborowski podczas wykładu w Muzeum Ziemi w Warszawie. Największe wymarłe zwierzęta to oczywiście dinozaury. Prelegent właśnie od nich rozpoczyna swój wykład. Drapieżne allozaury osiągały maksymalnie 12-13 metrów długości. Jeszcze większe od nich były dinozaury roślinożerne – jak słynne diplodoki o długich szyjach i ogonach. Tu dr Tyborowski wyjaśnia, że drapieżniki na lądzie co do zasady osiągają mniejsze rozmiary niż ich potencjalne ofiary. Dlaczego dinozaury były większe od ssaków? W czasach dinozaurów, w mezozoiku, żyły również ssaki. Były to jednak zwierzęta niewielkie, najwybitniejsze nie przekraczały rozmiarem dużego kota. Dlaczego nigdy nie dorównały wielkością gigantycznym gadom? Prelegent wskazuje dwie najważniejsze przyczyny. Po pierwsze, przodkami dinozaurów były archozaury, które już osiągały spore rozmiary. Po drugie, w przypadku dinozaurów grubość chrząstki na powierzchniach stawowych u dużych osobników była większa jak u małych. Przeciwnie jest u ssaków. Tak więc na przykład słoń ma mniejszą grubość chrząstki stawowej jak dziobak. Dinozaury były więc zwierzętami, które były fizjologicznie przystosowane do przenoszenia dużych obciążeń, dzięki czemu mogły osiągać gigantyczne rozmiary. Dr Tyborowski podczas wykładu nie skupia jednak na dinozaurach, ale na mniej oczywistych przykładach największych wymarłych zwierząt. Przegląd rozpoczyna od bezkręgowców. Przykładem jednego z nich jest Anomalocaris, o którym naukowiec wspominał na wcześniejszym wykładzie. Żył on w kambrze, około 540-500 mln lat temu. Osiągał długość około metra. Prelegent wykorzystuje ten przykład do wyjaśnienia, co to znaczy, że bezkręgowiec jest gigantyczny. Odwołuje się do badań porównawczych zespołu prof. Christiana Klaga z Zurychu, według których o gigantyzmie w przypadku bezkręgowców możemy mówić wówczas, gdy osiągają powyżej 0,5 metra długości. Jak mówi dr Tyborowski, Anomalocaris w swoich czasach był jedynym takim zwierzęciem, ale wkrótce pojawiło się ich znacznie więcej. Największe wymarłe zwierzęta ery paleozoicznej W kolejnej części wystąpienia prelegent wyjaśnia, dlaczego w akurat w ordowiku, który nastał po kambrze, pojawiła się ogromna liczba nowych, w tym gigantycznych zwierząt. Proces ten określa się mianem radiacji ordowickiej, albo GOBE (Great Ordovician Biodiversity Event). Pojawienie się wówczas wielu rodzajów fauny związane było ze sprzyjającymi warunkami paleogeograficznymi. Ziemię pokrywała wtedy duża liczba płytkich mórz szelfowych. Takie warunki umożliwiały dużą różnorodność biologiczną. Idąc za tym, pojawiło się również miejsce dla ogromnych stworzeń. W ordowiku, podobnie jak w kambrze, liczną grupą zwierząt były trylobity. Największy z tych stawonogów, Isotelux rex, osiągał 70 centymetrów długości. Królami ordowickich drapieżników były łodziki. Najbardziej wybitny z tych głowonogów, Endoceras giganteum, długością przewyższał znacznie wysokość człowieka. Gigantycznymi zwierzętami zamieszkującymi ówczesne morza były również eurypteidy (wieloraki), które polowały na pierwotne kręgowce. Największy z nich, Pterygotus grandidentatus, rozmiarami był zbliżony do człowieka. Jego późniejszy kuzyn, żyjący w dewonie Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, osiągał aż 3 metry długości.

Wykład dr. Daniela Tyborowskiego, Muzeum Ziemi PAN [15 grudnia 2019] Kambryjska eksplozja życia – to termin, który opisuje rewolucję biologiczną na naszej planecie, która zaszła ok. 540 mln lat temu. Co się za nim kryje? Z jakim procesem mieliśmy wówczas do czynienia? Dr Daniel Tyborowski odpowiedział na te pytania podczas wykładu w Muzeum Ziemi PAN w Warszawie. Zanim zaszła rewolucja, o której mowa, dna mórz były pokryte matą glonową. – Wszystko, co było przed kambrem, żyło na powierzchni osadu. Albo sobie pełzało po nim, albo rosło ku górze. Nie było natomiast możliwości penetrowania tego osadu w głąb – mówił paleontolog. Kambryjska eksplozja życia, która rozpoczęła się 541 mln lat temu, została zapoczątkowana przez pojawienie się organizmów roślinożernych zdolnych do przegryzienia się przez matę glonową i rycia w mule. Jednocześnie zaczynają być obecne pierwsze zwierzęta, których ciało pokryte jest szkieletem. Ich najbardziej charakterystycznym przykładem są trylobity Kambryjska eksplozja życia Dr Tyborowski tłumaczył, że penetrowanie osadu miało kolosalne znaczenie dla rozwoju różnych form życia. Rycie w mule spowodowało, że osad stał się natleniony. Powstało dzięki temu wiele nisz ekologicznych, które mogły stać się miejscem życia licznych, czasem mikroskopijnym organizmów. W pewnym sensie początek kambru może być również uznany więć za początek mikrobiologii. Podczas wykładu paleontolog opowiedział również o zwierzętach, których skamieniałości z tego okresu badają naukowcy. Szczególnie skupił się na dwóch stanowiskach paleontologicznych. – Chengjiang w Chinach i Burgess Pass w Kanadzie. – Burges to chyba najbardziej typowe stanowisko z różnym dziwnymi organizmami, które kompletnie nie przypominają niczego, co znamy z dzisiejszych ekosystemów, a jednocześnie takich, które trochę na myśl przywodzą stwory z kosmosu czy innego wymiaru – mówił o tym ostatnim. Jednym z tych zwierząt był anomalocaris, który był drapieżnikiem. Pojawienie się drapieżców było również elementem kambryjskiej eksplozji życia. Anomalocaris w odróżnieniu od innych organizmów zamieszkujących ekosystem Burges Pass osiągał znaczne rozmiary. Osiągał długość nawet jednego metra, podczas gdy jego ofiary nie przekraczały dziesięciu centymetrów.

SPECIAL GUEST: John Paterson (UNE) John Paterson is a professor of paleontology and earth sciences at the University of New England. He studies the evolution of life during the Cambrian explosion. Some of his recent research has shown that during this time some of the largest predators around, Anomalocaris, had wonderfully complex eyes and they were likely to be incredible visual predators of their time. In this interview we also hear about his work studying the fossils found in the Emu Bay Shale on Kangaroo Island. We also hear about how he and his team celebrated their 10 year anniversary of working at the Emu Bay Shale with a specially brewed ‘Shale Ale’, a craft beer filtered through fossil remnants. Support us on Patreon Find out more at www.insituscience.com Follow us on Twitter @insituscience Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook Music: ‘Strange Stuff’ by Sonic Wallpaper - www.sonicwallpaper.bandcamp.com

This week let's find out a little something about the Cambrian explosion, where the relatively simple and tiny life on earth suddenly proliferated and grew much larger...and definitely stranger. The Burgess shale area: beautiful AND full of fascinating fossils: Anomalocaris, pre-we-figured-out-what-these-things-are: What anomalocaris probably actually looked like, plus a couple of the "headless shrimp" fossils: More "headless shrimp" fossils because for some reason I find them hilarious: Marrella. Tiny, weird, looks sort of like those creepy house centipedes that freak me out so much, but with horns: Hallucigenia, long-time mystery fossil: What hallucingenia probably looked like, maybe: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. This week’s topic is one I’ve been fascinated by for years but I’ve never read much about it: the Cambrian explosion. That refers to the explosion of life forms in the Cambrian period, which started about 540 million years ago. That was long before the dinosaurs, long before fish, basically long before almost all life on earth that wasn’t simple squidgy things living in warm, shallow seas. To learn about the Cambrian explosion, let’s go back even farther first and learn about the first life on earth. Obviously, the more recently an animal lived, the more likely we are to find fossils and other remains: footprints in fossilized mud, gastroliths and coproliths, and so forth. The farther back we go, the fewer remains we have. The earth is continually changing, with mountains rising up and continents moving around, volcanoes erupting, old mountains being worn down by wind and weather. That’s good for the earth and therefore for life in general, since nutrients are cycled through the ecosystem and habitats are continually renewed. But it’s bad when paleontologists are trying to find out what lived a billion years ago, because most of those rocks are gone, either weathered into sand long ago, melted into magma, or buried under the ocean or otherwise out of our reach. The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, oceans formed 4.4 billion years ago, and the oldest rocks we can find are about 4 billion years old. The first life on earth, single-celled organisms, dates back to about 3.8 billion years ago, maybe earlier. By 3.5 billion years ago, complex single-celled microorganisms had evolved—we know because we’ve found eleven microscopic fossils in rocks from western Australia. Researchers have concluded that the fossils belonged to five different taxonomical groups, which means that by 3.5 billion years ago, life was already well established and diverse. By 2.5 billion years ago, the earth had continents roughly the same size as the ones today, although not anything like the same shapes or in the same places. Land also didn’t have dirt on it, just sand and bare rock, since dirt is largely decomposed organic matter and nothing was living or dying on the land yet. Not long after, 2.45 billion years ago, oxygen started to make up a large part of the earth’s atmosphere. That’s right, before then we literally could not have breathed the air. I mean, we could have, but we would die of suffocation because the air contained only trace amounts of oxygen. While having oxygen in the air sounds great to us now, the single-celled organisms living then couldn’t process it and died off—probably the greatest extinction event in the earth’s history. Only organisms that were able to evolve quickly enough to use oxygen survived and thrived. One particular type of microorganism dating back 2.3 billion years, sulfur bacteria, again known from ancient rocks from western Australia, is still around. Modern sulfur bacteria live in the deep sea off the coast of Chile, and they literally have not needed to change at all in 2.3 billion years. That’s what you call success. The earliest multicellular organisms date to around...

Anomalocaridids are iconic Cambrian animals, originally found in the Burgess Shale deposits in Canada. From the Genus Anomalocaris, their name translates as 'strange shrimp' owing to their initial misidentification from incomplete remains. In fact, it took until 1985 to realise that three different animals were all actually disarticulated parts of the same animal! Our knowledge of these enigmatic creatures has increased exponentially in recent years owing to many exciting new fossil discoveries, as well as reanalysis of old specimens using new technologies. Researchers are  building up a picture of a group of animals  far more diverse than previously expected, including apex predators as well as possible filter feeders and scavengers. Their temporal range is surprising too - they survived the end Cambrian extinctions when many other taxa died out, and many questions about their ecology, relationships and extinction remain to be answered.

In response to the slightest amount of "success", the gang immediately tries (and fails) to sell out the podcast with James and Curt racing to the bottom in a soulless attempt to cater the show to potential sponsors. They also have a #detailed #discussion on the #famous #Cambrian #arthropod #Anomalocaris. #pleasedon'tsueus     #hashtag

En 1892, el paleontólogo británico Joseph Frederick Whiteaves bautizó con el nombre de Anomalocaris canadiensis lo que parecía el abdomen y la cola de un crustáceo fosilizado procedente de uno de los yacimientos que forman el conjunto de los esquistos de Burgess, en Canadá. Whiteaves eligió el nombre de Anomalocaris, que significa camarón anómalo. Después se descubrió que se trataba de una criatura muy singular que vivió hace 510 millones de años, en el Cámbrico medio.