HOME | DD

Description
Animal group: Arthropod.
Age: About 515 million years ago.
Period: Cambrian.
Range: Canada.
Length: 6,5 cm.
Diet: Small invertebrates.
Number in park: eight animals.
Danger level: Harmless.

The five-eyed opabinia surely is one of the strangest animals cloned by E.I. When the animals hatched they resembled tiny adults and would feed on plantonic animals. They grew quickly and reached adult size at about three weeks of age. They use their long proboscis in order to grasp food and pass it to the mouth. The animals were often seen probing the sediment and seemed to fancy buried prey. Further research has shown that they use their long "snout" in order to pull out prey from their burrows, and this is now taken into consideration during feeding. They move about by gently flapping their lobes, and prefer to stay on the seafloor, even though they can swim actively. The underside of their lobes are covered with gill filaments, and the animals must move in order to get fresh oxygen. Their five eyes give them a 360 degree vision and they can easily spot predators or intruding hands.

TRIVIA
The opabinia at the park are beginning to die of old age, even though they are only a few months old. There have been no succesful breeding so far and new opabinias will have to be cloned.

Description
Animal group: Arthropod.
Age: About 515 million years ago.
Period: Cambrian.
Range: Canada.
Length: 6,5 cm.
Diet: Small invertebrates.
Number in park: eight animals.
Danger level: Harmless.

The five-eyed opabinia surely is one of the strangest animals cloned by E.I. When the animals hatched they resembled tiny adults and would feed on plantonic animals. They grew quickly and reached adult size at about three weeks of age. They use their long proboscis in order to grasp food and pass it to the mouth. The animals were often seen probing the sediment and seemed to fancy buried prey. Further research has shown that they use their long "snout" in order to pull out prey from their burrows, and this is now taken into consideration during feeding. They move about by gently flapping their lobes, and prefer to stay on the seafloor, even though they can swim actively. The underside of their lobes are covered with gill filaments, and the animals must move in order to get fresh oxygen. Their five eyes give them a 360 degree vision and they can easily spot predators or intruding hands.

TRIVIA
The opabinia at the park are beginning to die of old age, even though they are only a few months old. There have been no succesful breeding so far and new opabinias will have to be cloned.