Cambrian

“We have previously known that primitive arthropods were the dominant predators during the Cambrian, such as the bizarre-looking anomalocaridids”

British paleontologists have discovered that the first terrestrial plants appeared on Earth about 500 million years ago, with over 100 million years earlier than previously thought. Their article is published in PNAS.

It was big. It was weird. And this monster from the primordial seas was also a trend-setter.

Scientists on March 11 announced the discovery in southeastern Morocco of beautifully preserved fossils of a huge arthropod - the group that includes crabs, scorpions, insects, spiders, centipedes and more - that lived 480 million years ago.