Opabinia

Opabinia regalis

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Period

Cambrian

Location

Canada (Burgess Shale)

Length

4-7 cm

Weight

A few grams

Diet

Carnivore/Scavenger

Category

Marine Creatures - Invertebrates

Family

Opabiniidae

About Opabinia

Opabinia regalis

Overview

Opabinia is one of the strangest animals ever discovered—so strange that when it was first presented to scientists in 1972, the audience burst out laughing because they thought it was a joke! With five eyes and a trunk-like proboscis, this bizarre Cambrian creature looked like something from science fiction. It lived approximately 505 million years ago in the ancient seas.

Taxonomy & Classification

  • Phylum: Arthropoda (stem group)
  • Class: Dinocaridida
  • Family: Opabiniidae
  • Diet: Carnivore/Scavenger
  • Locomotion: Swimming

Opabinia is related to Anomalocaris and other early arthropod relatives.

Physical Characteristics

Modest Size

  • Length: 4-7 cm (about 2-3 inches)
  • Weight: A few grams
  • Comparison: About the size of your thumb

Unique Features

  • FIVE eyes on stalks
  • Long proboscis (trunk) with a claw
  • Segmented body with lateral lobes
  • Fan-shaped tail
  • No legs—just swimming lobes

Five Eyes!

Unprecedented Vision

Opabinia's five eyes are unique:

  • Two pairs on the sides of the head
  • One eye in the middle
  • All on short stalks
  • Probably provided wide field of view
  • No other known animal has exactly this arrangement!

The Proboscis

A Built-In Tool

The most striking feature is the proboscis:

  • Flexible trunk-like appendage
  • Extended from under the head
  • Ended in a grasping claw
  • Could reach backward to the mouth
  • Used to grab food from the seafloor

How It Fed

Vacuum Cleaner of the Cambrian

Opabinia likely fed by:

  • Probing the seafloor with its proboscis
  • Grabbing small prey or food particles
  • Passing food back to its mouth
  • The claw could grip soft-bodied animals
  • May have been a scavenger too

Swimming Style

Graceful Movement

Unlike walking animals, Opabinia:

  • Had lateral lobes along its body
  • Used lobes for swimming
  • Similar to modern cuttlefish movement
  • The fan tail helped with steering
  • Probably swam just above the seafloor

The 1972 Presentation

A Memorable Moment

When Harry Whittington presented Opabinia:

  • Scientists at the meeting laughed out loud
  • They thought the reconstruction was a joke
  • The animal seemed too bizarre to be real
  • It became a famous moment in paleontology
  • Proved that Cambrian life was truly weird

Scientific Importance

Cambrian Explosion Evidence

Opabinia shows us that:

  • The Cambrian Explosion produced incredible diversity
  • Body plans were experimental
  • Not all designs survived
  • Evolution tried many combinations
  • Life can take forms we can't imagine

Rare Fossils

Limited Specimens

Opabinia is known from:

  • Only about 20 specimens
  • All from the Burgess Shale, Canada
  • Exceptional soft-body preservation
  • One of the rarest Burgess Shale animals

Cool Facts

  • Opabinia has FIVE EYES—no other known animal has this exact number!
  • Scientists laughed when they first saw it, thinking it was a joke
  • Its trunk-like proboscis could grab food and pass it backward to its mouth
  • Only about 20 fossils have ever been found
  • Lived 505 million years ago during the Cambrian Explosion
  • Had no legs—it swam using body lobes
  • The proboscis ended in a grasping claw
  • Related to the giant predator Anomalocaris

Opabinia is proof that evolution has no limits to creativity—this five-eyed wonder of the Cambrian seas reminds us that the history of life is stranger than any fiction!