For a wildcard #InsertAnInvert2024 week we’re going back in time all the way to the Cambrian for the Opabinia! 🐡🧪 The fossils of this soft-bodied 7 cm long animal are found in the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale Lagerstätte (505 million years ago) of British Columbia. Opabinia likely caught 🧵1/n

prey with the grasping claws on the end of its long tubular proboscis (like an elephant’s trunk). Even more astounding are the five eyes on stalks! I thought this weirdo would serve as an introduction to October, or Eye Month for #InsertAnInvert2024. 🧵2/2

PERFECT CHOICE 100000/10

snibbeti snab, it's the 'Pab!

you're WAY ahead of everyone omg. at this rate my wild cards will happen in 2025