I’m so in love with the species of the Cambrian Explosion lately…

All of the animals here are products of the Cambrian Explosion. This event was a boom of life that occurred somewhat earlier during this era and gave rise to some of the strangest creatures that have ever lived. Most of them belonged to families doomed to die out while others managed to pull through. First of all, nothing at this time had a backbone. For many millions of years, invertebrates would be the dominant form of life on the planet and nowhere is it more obvious than here in the Burgess Shale.

http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/the-alien-world-of-the-burgess-shale/