ANOMALOCARIS: Dynamic Balance

Copyright: Paleogirl at deviantart.com

The terror of the Cambrian Seas (500 million years ago), Anomalocaris cruised the warm coastal waters hunting for Trilobites.  Finding one, this super-predator grabbed her prey with her two appendages, and wiggled the exoskeleton of her victim up and down until it split open.  Then, She ate the exposed innards of the unfortunate Trilobite.  Sometimes, Anomalocaris would take a bite out of her prey with her sharp circular mouth parts.

            Growing to the size of a person, Anomalocaris resembled a shrimp with her segmented body.  To swim long distances, She moved the flaps of her body simultaneously up and down.  This action gave Her, the ability of a fish in swimming.  Because Anomalocaris could cruise and hover, She became the apex predator of her time.

            In searching the sea floor for tasty Trilobites, Anomalocaris used her two compound eyes on the top of stalks.  The most notable feature of Anomalocaris was her eyes, which were as complex as a modern Dragonfly.  As the first known apex predator, She proved that eyes developed before joined legs, since vision was more important in the early oceans.

            Anomalocaris personified the “arms race” known as the Predator-Prey dynamic, which keeps a dynamic balance.  With her advanced eyes, She could hunt her prey.  Meanwhile to avoid being eaten by Anomalocaris, Trilobites learned to roll up in a ball.

            The Predator-Prey dynamic became a path to balanced growth.  To avoid being eaten, the prey created new strategies for defense.  Then the predator devised new offensive strategies for hunting.  Balance was maintained as each changed themselves to outwit the other, shapeshifting and growing in the process.  When we need to grow but still keep our balance, we can look to Anomalocaris and Trilobites.  Each shows us what we need to do in their dance of dynamic balance as predator and prey.
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