Hallucigenia

The hallucigenia is one of the strangest creatures, in the Burgess Shale. It is less than three millimeters long, making it one of the smaller creatures int he Burgess Shale. At one end there is a bulbous "head" which is a round mass. This connects to the cylindrical trunk of the Hallucigenia, which, on the top has seven pairs of spines pointing upward and outward. These conical spines are embedded into the trunk, and are fairly long when compared to the rest of the Hallucigenia. Below each pair of spines there is a tentacle except that the last tentacle is offset from the pair of spines. Behind these tentacles there are three pairs of much shorted tentacles, and then the trunk narrows and curves upward. The tentacles have pincers at their tips, and there is a hollow tube in each one which is connected to the gut. Originally the Hallucigenia was thought to have stood on its spines, with the tentacles upward. Later studies have shown that the "tentacles" are actually feet, and the Hallucigenia is a descendant of today's velvet worms.