ORIGIN:

These creatures originate from the Middle Cambrian Period derived from the Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada.

SIZE:

REPLICA: The delicate structure to this soft bodied creature measures aprox. 7 cm in length resting upon some matrix measuring 12 cm x 7 cm. Remember, these were some of the earliest forms of life on this planet - forming part of the Cambrian Explosion of life, so the detail here isn't that great but it's truly amazing that they even ended up preserved in the fossil record itself!

DETAIL:

Aysheaia: Aysheaia was originally described by Walcott in his 1911 work on annelid worms (ringed or segmented worms). He was drawn to the similarity that Aysheaia had with modern day velvet worms (Onychophora). Following this original description this creature has been subject to much debate and only following new specimens being uncovered in China that modern day interpretations point to Aysheaia representing a 'paraphyletic grade from which both modern onychophoran (velvet worms) and arthropods (invertebrates with an exoskeleton and segmented body) evolved'.

Species of Aysheaia are known from fossils derived from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia and from the Wheeler Formation in Utah. Further examples are now known from the Lower Cambrian deposits of the Maotianshan Shales of China.

CLASSIFICATION:

This is the generally accepted classification. 

Kingdom: Animalia

Superphylum: Ecdysozoa

Phylum: Lobopodia

Family: Aysheaiidae

Genus: Aysheaia

Species: Aysheaia pedunculata sp. (Type specimen, Walcott 1911)..
 

The fossils from this location are protected, so having a replica is the only way to appreciate these rare and unique Cambrian fossils which represent some of the earliest life on this planet and can only add to a diversified fossil collection.