User blog:DTRaptor/Prehistoric: Book I. Cambrian. The Dangers of the Ocean

'''The Trilobite crawled along, leaving tiny tracks in the sand. It was not alone though, as around a dozen of them were all migrating. They had been migrating for about a month, to the south, where they could escape from other predators. It was mating season among the community, and they would have to be extra cautious if they were to spread their genes. '''

'''The group had been getting hungry; they stopped at a coral reef to eat algae, sucking it up from the sand. At first they were relaxed, until a large shadow appeared above them. It was an Anomalocaris, a 2 meter long monster that had quite and appetite for Trilobites. The group went into a panic; they huddled together, their hard shells giving them a sort of protection from the giant. The predator circled them for a few minutes, using its eyes to search for a vulnerable creature. It eventually spotted one, out of the huddle, trying to get back in. It used its bizarre looking tentacles to pick it up, flip it over, and devour the soft underbelly of the prey. While the monster was eating, the group hastily left the area in case the Anomalocaris wanted seconds. The predator dropped the empty shell of the carcass.'''

'''Most animals in the cambrian had hard outsides, and soft insides. One of the disadvantages of this was that If bent too far, the hard outside, rigid and inflexible, could end up breaking, exposing the soft flesh underneath. That is why when Pikaia evolved, it was a huge evolutionary success. Not only was it a lot faster than the invertebrates, but it was more flexible, and so could go into small spaces. So when a large shoal of these primitive fish came by the carcass of the Trilobite the Anomalocaris ate, they could feed. They ate the small pieces of flesh that the Anomalocaris couldn’t reach, until the carcass was just a shell. The Pikaia left to scavenge on another corpse.'''