Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
514 / Paleozoic
Tokummia
Tokummia katalepsis
Large pincer-like mandibles projected beneath a bivalved shell on an early mandibulate.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 508 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Cambrian
- Geographic range
- Shallow muddy sea · Canada
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Tokummia?
Tokummia (Tokummia katalepsis) was an extinct organism known from About 508 million years ago, with a range in Shallow muddy sea · Canada.
Life and ecology
It walked over the bottom and grasped soft prey or organic debris.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Tokummia disappear?
Mandibulates and crustaceans later diversified, but a younger fauna does not by itself show that they replaced this form.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Tokummia?
Fossils preserve valves, trunk, mandibles and tail while its exact position is still refined.
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