Balhuticaris voltae

Balhuticaris voltae undulated through Cambrian seas over 500 million years ago, propelled by roughly 110 pairs of paddle-like limbs along its remarkably segmented trunk. A broad bivalved carapace shielded its head and anterior body, which bore prominent sensory organs adapted for navigating murky bottom waters. Reaching nearly a quarter of a meter in length, this giant hymenocarine demonstrated that complex gigantism emerged far earlier in arthropod evolutionary history than previously suspected.