Thursday, July 28, 2011


Canadaspis is a bizarre genus of crustacean from the Cambrian Period. Its name means "Shield of Canada." It had a large shield that covered its head.

Canadaspis probably used its legs to crawl along the sea floor. When Canadaspis crawled, its legs made a rippling motion that could have stirred up food or helped it with respiration by stirring up the water.

Canadaspis are commonly found in the Burgess Shale. But Canadaspis is also found in Utah, Nevada, and China.

This image shows Anomalocaris grabbing a Canadaspis with its claws.

The type species of Canadaspis is C. perfecta.


  1. This fossil is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Thanks for writing this!

  2. I do think the fossil is well-preserved, too. The Canadaspis in the fossil looks like it's on top of an Eldonia!

  3. No wonder its species name is "perfecta"!

  4. Would Anomalocaris have eaten these for real do you think?

  5. Anomalocaris probably would have eaten Canadaspis, because it basically ate anything it could get. Maybe free-swimming animals were harder to catch than benthic animals, so Anomalocaris may have eaten these because they were probably easy to catch. But that's just my hypothesis.