#callichimaera perplexa

[fried-shrimp-studios]

The doodles of the century!!

Or the… millions of years… uhhhh

Does a little dance.. a little jig perhaps

[todropscience]

This is a extinc “crab” called Callichimaera perplexa (means ‘perplexing beautiful chimera’). It was about the size of a quarter and had large and unprotected compound eyes, bent claws, leg-like mouth parts, exposed tail, and a small body.

Callichimaera perplexa lived approximately 95 million years ago (mid-Cretaceous period) in what are now Colombia and the United States, and It is the earliest example of a swimming arthropod with paddle-like legs.

- Illustration by Elissa Martin, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Callichimaera superficially resembles a larval stage known as a megalopa: the transitional (final) larval stage between the swimming planktonic zoea larva and the first benthic juvenile crab stage. This suggests that some ancient crabs may have retained a few of their larval traits into adulthood, amplified them, and developed new body architecture, in a evolutionary process called heterchrony. 

gif: 3D reconstruction of Callichimaera perplexa.

Reference: Luque et al. 2019. Exceptional preservation of mid-Cretaceous marine arthropods and the evolution of novel forms via heterochrony. Science Advances.

[Image description: main picture is a rotative gif showing a 3d reconstruccion of Callichimaera perplexa, it shows its big eyes, and a body adapted to swim.

Second imagen is a illustration of two Callichimaera perplexa swimming in shallow luminous waters]

[netmassimo]

An article published in the journal "Science Advances" reports the discovery of a marine arthropod dating back to about 95 million years ago, during the Mid-Cretaceous period. A team of researchers led by paleontologist Javier Luque of the American Yale University announced the discovery in Colombia and in the USA of hundreds of exceptionally preserved specimens of various species that include the one so far unknown that they named Callichimaera perplexa. It's a crab that represents the oldest swimming arthropod known after the extinction of sea scorpions, which occurred about 250 million years ago. Its strange features could lead to rethinking the definition of crab.

[dynamocha]

Callichimaera perplexa 🦀

[fried-shrimp-studios]

New exctinct crustacean character dropping soon…

[flaminghomosexualbreadsticks]

If Callichimaera Perplexa has a million fans, I’m one of them. If Callichimaera Perplexa has 5 fans, I’m one of them. If Callichimaera Perplexa has 1 fan, that one is me. If Callichimaera Perplexa has no fans, I’m no longer alive. If the world is against Callichimaera Perplexa I’m against the entire world.

Till my last breath, I’ll support Callichimaera Perplexa.

[petitpoulailler]

Callichimaera perplexa on the prowl, as imagined by a paleoartist. Oksana Vernygor, or “perplexing beautiful chimera,” in homage to its strange hodgepodge of features.

[ezrasf]

Newly discovered ‘beautiful nightmare’ crab had wrench-like claws and enormous, cartoonish eyes

Meet Callichimaera perplexa, an ancient, quarter-size crab with a lobster-like shell, legs like oars and huge peepers protruding from its head.

"The small, pocket-size crab, named Callichimaera perplexa, was different from its modern cousins. This crab sported a tiny lobster-esque shell, with legs flattened like oars, and huge Pound Puppies-style peepers that protruded from its head — a trait that indicates the creature used its eyes actively for whatever it did, researchers said."