Hallucigenia

Hallucigenia

Fossil of Hallucigenia

Animated Recreation of Hallucigenia

Fossils of a creature later named Hallucigenia were discovered in the Burgess Shale. An interesting fact is that the creature was first recreated upside down in 1977. The first fossils found were difficult to reconstruct due to a limited impression of the head and only a half set of tentacles. From later fossils it was deduced that Hallucigenia walked along the ocean floor using paired tentacles with a claw like structure on the ends. There were two rows of spiked on its back that protected it from predators.