Omnidens

Omnidens amplus, meaning "large all-tooth", is an extinct species of large Cambrian animal known only from a series of large mouth apparatus, originally mistaken as the mouthparts of anomalocaridids. When first named, it was interpreted as a giant priapulid, but is now considered a panarthropod. Its mouth apparatus closely resembles that of the smaller gilled lobopodian Pambdelurion, indicating it is likely to have been a close relative of that species, with which it may be synonymous. With a maximum estimated body length of 1.5 metres (4.9 ft), Omnidens is suggested to have been the largest known free-living Cambrian organism. Omnidens fossils are found in the Maotianshan Shales.

Omnidens
Temporal range:
Size estimation of Omnidens as a gilled lobopodian, with the only evident region (mouthparts) highlighted in dark grey.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
(unranked): Panarthropoda
Genus: Omnidens
Hou, Bergström, and Yang, 2006
Type species
Omnidens amplus
Hou, Bergström, and Yang, 2006
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