Canadaspis

Canadaspis was an aquatic arthropod from the Cambrian Period of North America and Asia.

Description
Canadaspis had distinctive biramous appendages that may have been used to stir up sediment on the ocean floor. Spines on the inside of its legs would have caught larger particles and directed them to the mouth where they could be ingested.

It also possessed antennae, and spines hello from THE OTHER SIDE

on its head that protected its eyes.

Classification
It was originally believed that Canadaspis was a type of crustacean, but this no longer appears to be the case. Others believe it should be placed at the base of the clade Euarthropoda. There are two known species: C. perfecta and C. laevigata.

History
Canadaspis perfecta was first described by Derek Briggs in 1978 from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada. Fossils from the species have since been found in Nevada and Utah. C. laevigata was described in 1991 from the Chengjiang biota of the Maotianshan Shales in China.