14 DAY TRIAL // It's a good thing we humans weren't around 480 million years back. Otherwise, chances are a brief encounter with the creature shown in the images accompanying this article would have been more than enough to scare us into going extinct forever and for always.
The creature, known as an anomalocaridid, populated ancient seas and oceans. It measured 2 meters (roughly 7 feet) from head to tail and it looked like the lovechild of a lobster, a scary-looking tarantula and an even creepier cockroach.
Writing in the journal Nature, paleontologists explain that this ancient monster had a seriously bizarre pair of spiny appendages growing on its head. It is believed that the animal used these appendages to pull plankton from the water and eat it.
As for the head itself, it looks like it very much resembled that of present-day squid, Live Science informs. The appendages that the creature relied on to feed were attached close to the mouth, and the eyes pointed sideways.
Fossilized remains unearthed over the years indicate that anomalocaridid specimens had a fragmented body made of up several segments. These segments all came complete with two flaps on each side, which probably helped them move through the water.
The species, whose official name is Aegirocassis benmoulae, lived during the Palaeozoic era. By the looks of it, it was among the absolute largest creatures inhabiting our planet at that time.
