Anomalocaridid

Kingdom: Animalia

Stem-group: Arthropoda

Class: Dinocaridida

Order: Radiodonta

Family: Anomalocarididae

Anomalocaridid's were a group of marine animals that lived during the Cambrian period. They were the apex predator during the Cambrian period. They were free swimming with two feeding appendages towards the front of the mouths. The mouth was circular in shape with a ring of teeth surrounding the central orifice. The teeth were designed to allow it to eat shelled organisms including Trilobites. There were two large eyes towards the front of the body, paleontologists are unsure these were compound eyes or not. They moved by 11 lobes surrounding the body moving in a wave like motion, making them extremely agile. There are five genera known of the Anolmalocaridids all having gone extinct at the end of the Cambrian, having been replaced by large cephalopods