Middle Cambrian Dinomischus
author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix
reference: t-glb99-00041
Image Size 300 DPI: 33 * 25 cm
Resembling modern flowers, species of the genus Dinomischus populate the ocean floor about 505 million years ago. About four inches tall, Dinomischus was an animal permanently attached to the ocean floor by a stalk. It probably fed by filtering the surrounding seawater for nutrients, and may have created a current to facilitate this. Its mouth and anus were positioned side-by-side.