I couple months or so ago, I was reading this paper about the extinct Cambrian organism *Pikaia gracilens* and how scientists had analyzed its fossils to get a more detailed picture on what it looked like in life.

Naturally, after reading that paper, I started doing doodles based on the description (although these first few tries weren't entirely up to snuff...)

#pikaia #cambrian #paleontology #PaleoInspiredArt #paleoart

Was This Sea Creature Our Ancestor? Scientists Turn a Famous #Fossil on its Head https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/science/pikaia-vertebrate-evolution.html

A new interpretation of #Pikaia reveals the origins of the chordate body plan https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)00669-9

"Researchers have long assumed that a tube in the famous Pikaia fossil ran along the animal’s back. But a new study turned the fossil upside-side down."

The opening of chapter 4 in Nick Lane’s Transformer inspired this motivational poster of sorts.

#AmReading #Bookstodon #Pikaia #Motivational

Mighty #Anomalocaris stirs, spreading dust and terror throughout the #Cambrian sea. #Opabinia, #Hallucigenia, #Pikaia, #Canadia, #Burgessia, #Marella, and #Elrathia can only hope the rocks and ridges they cover behind will hide them.

Inspired by a display at the Naturkunde Museum Stuttgart that perfectly showed off the difference in size between Cambrian critters. At 40 cm, Anomalocaris was a leviathan.

#CambrianExplosion #Paleoart #MyArt #Arthropods