Today our professor mentioned the species called Hallucigenia Sparsa for the second time since the beginning of the semester. This perked my interest so I looked it up. There has been many different thoughts to what genus this animal belongs to. Because of its mysteriousness, it still isn't 100% decided what genus this animal belongs to. It is part of the Animalia kingdom, Onychophora (Lobopodia) Phylum, and Xenusia class. It's name originates from the Latin word hallucinatio meaning "wondering of the mind" and the Latin word sparsus meaning "rare or scattered." The fossil is from the Middle Cambrian period about 505 million years ago. It is a carnivorous animal that fed off of sponges and possibly scavenged decaying animals in the ocean. It was a bottom dweller. It had a worm like body with seven pairs of spines and seven pairs of legs. They were only about 30 mm.
Photo 1 is picture of the fossil and the following photos are what scientist believe the Hallucigenia Sparsa may have looked like.
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