Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
486 / Paleozoic
Nectocaris
Nectocaris pteryx
Paired fins, a funnel and tentacle-like appendages form one of the Cambrian's most puzzling swimmers.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 508 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Cambrian
- Geographic range
- Open marine water column · Canada
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Nectocaris?
Nectocaris (Nectocaris pteryx) was an extinct organism known from About 508 million years ago, with a range in Open marine water column · Canada.
Life and ecology
Undulating fins and funnel propulsion carried it through the water after small prey.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Nectocaris disappear?
Later cephalopod-like swimmers and molluscan communities appeared, but a younger fauna does not by itself show that they replaced this form.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Nectocaris?
Burgess Shale fossils preserve eyes, gills, fins and funnel; a stem-cephalopod identity remains debated.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS