The First Apex Predators on Earth (that we know of)! 🦐 GEO GIRL

The first predator on Earth looked a lot different than predators on Earth today! These huge arthropods, called Anomalocarids, lived in Cambrian seas about 500 million years ago! They reached sizes much larger than other organisms at the time and acted as the apex predators in Earth's very first complex ecosystems. Before the Ediacaran period and Cambrian Explosion, animals did not exist yet. Sure, microbes ate other microbes on this early, 'pre-animal' Earth, but there was no real predation until animals came along. Animals evolved before the Cambrian, in the Ediacaran, but these first animals did not seem to have the complex hierarchy ecosystems that we see later during and after the Cambrian explosion. The Cambrian explosion marked not only a remarkable diversification of animal life, but also an increase in skeletons, shells, and other hard parts. This 'skeletonization' of life was likely in part allowed by changes in ocean chemistry, but the ultimate driver of this increase in organisms with hard parts was predation. Hard parts provide organisms with protection from predation which, until this time, had not been a threat. However, during the Cambrian explosion, Anomalocarids evolved, which changed everything! Hope you enjoy the video ;)

0:00 Ediacaran Fauna & Cambrian Explosion
1:26 First Predators on Earth
2:14 Their Methods of Predation
4:20 Their Diversity
4:43 Their Surprisingly Short Time Range
5:23 Resulting Evolutionary Adaptations
8:33 Why Did They Go Extinct?
11:35 What Types of Predators Followed?
12:59 Lasting Impact of the First Predators

References:

Hey there, Earth enthusiast! Check my favorite Earth-friendly products:

(Just click link, press get started, take the free C footprint quiz, then choose how much you want to reduce your footprint by donating to the C sequestration projects they're funding!)

Non-textbook books I recommend:

Tools I use as a geologist/teacher/student:

Disclaimer: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission, but there is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free content each week! And as always, let me know your topic suggestions in the comments down below!

[GEOGIRL]

Correction/Clarification: I mentioned they may have fed on arthropods like trilobites, but more recent research suggests that they probably preyed more so on worms and potentially non-shelled worm-like mollusks rather than trilobites. But this targetting of soft-bodied prey even more so indicates their role in pressuring organisms to produce hard parts, and it also suggests this is one of the reasons trilobites weren't that affected by them! ;) Thanks to the commenters who pointed this out! Hope you all enjoy the video :D

[GEOGIRL]

Sorry guys, I made a last minute edit on this video, so it's still processing and it may not include all the cards and end screen pop ups that I refer to until after it's processed, so those are coming, but it's gonne be a bit delayed ;)

[goyoelburro]

The format of your videos is perfect. It feels like a "Friendly Informal University Intro Class". You don't shy away from using scientific descriptive terms, but it's set in an upbeat and fun way that I think really stimulates learning.
This is good stuff and I hope your channel and viewership grows.

[donaldbrizzolara]

Rachel, from what I understand the eyes of Anomalocaris cement the creature as the probable top predator of its day. Apparently, Anomalocaris had some of the largest and most sophisticated compound eyes ever known. It is proposed that only a few arthropods have similar or better resolution, such as modern predatory dragonflies. It’s fascinating to contemplate the early evolution of such complex visual organs.

[NocturnalTyphlosion]

this is a good video but even better is that thumbnail

i think it's my favourite on the entire platform

[tedetienne]

I definitely like the graphic of the Paleozoic Era at the bottom of the screen from 8:34 to 9:00. It reinforces the periods' ages, their dates, and what was generally happening during the periods - helping out the newcomer. But it also runs along the bottom of the screen, like a chyron during a news broadcast - so someone more experienced can easily ignore it. It seems like a very handy tool! Will you be using it in the future? I've always noticed that you very often reinforce the historical geology knowledge - saying things like "the end-Permian extinction - or the Great Dying - approximately 252 million years ago...", instead of simply "the end-Permian extinction..." I appreciate that effort to emphasize the basics often. That's the sign of a great teacher!

[shadeen]

Thanks geo girl for excellent presentation

[michaeleisenberg]

Hi Rachel,
Very nice lecture. A lot of new material. Very interesting. Thank you.

[barbaradurfee]

Good listen for my walk this morning, thanks👍🏼❤️😊

[robbabcock_]

Terrific video and a really fascinating era.

[ptredhead]

Cool video, thanks! My interpretation of Anomalocarids' mouth parts is that they look like they were specialized in eating worms. The appendages would wrap around tubular shapes and the spikes would grasp and eviscerate the slimy worm (gross!) Their flat body shape would be suited to gliding along the ocean floor digging up worms and maybe that's why Anomalocarids didn't have much of an effect on Trilobites. I'd be down for a video all about ancient worms haha XD

[wafikiri_]

I was waiting for a video like this. Thank you!

[flyingskyward]

This is a lovely channel. I love learning about early animals and their diversity, it's so interesting

[darth]

Great video. Anomalocarids were fascinating animals. One other group of apex predators that followed them, besides the sea scorpions, were the large cephalopods that ruled in the Ordovician.

[JCO]

Actually, I already knew, but I'm watching it anyway because I like your videos and I'm sure I'll learn more in the process. Thanks.

[victorkrawchuk]

Thanks for the video! Anomalocaris is my favorite prehistoric animal. Not bad for Evolution's first attempt at a predator. The story of how the first fossil was discovered is creepy but also really cool. If multicellular life has evolved in the oceans of Europa, I wonder if it might look anything like this.

[shovelspade]

Thank you again for another awesome presentation.
I've enjoyed Natural History all my life, focusing on ecology, plant and animal relationships between species and the environments they live in. You really bring geology to life and add a whole new depth to my understanding of time and evolution.
Much love, wonderful lady.

[terenzo]

Rachel -- Partway through this week's talk the song "New Kid In Town" by the Eagles started playing in my head (New Anomalocarid In Town doesn't quite scan...). My only quibble is that the "first" predators were most likely microbial and started a good deal earlier than these multi-cellular johnny-come-lately's of the Cambrian. Microbes! Microbes! Rah! Rah! Rah! (Hope you got the vid I sent to your email re microbes and tectonics.)

[josephjackson]

So basically this was the wild west of times for evolution. Some lived fast and died hard. 👍 love your work and keep it coming. Thanks

[noeditbookreviews]

I love the stuff you've been covering lately! Between the geo and the bio content, this is becoming one of my favorite channels.
I gotta share something that just blows me away with the Cambrian explosion, the incredible diversity of body plans. Most living things today are similar to eachother by comparison. We see mostly segmented, sagittal symmetry with largely predictable apendages, various outliers not withstanding. But during the Cambrian, there were so many unusual body plans. Most of them went extinct and we were left with a tiny sample from to build from. But consider if they hadn't gone extinct. The life we see today would be absolutely alien and bizarre to our eyes. Just look at anomalocaris. Then you have guys like opabinia, halucigenia, wiwaxia and marrella. They looked more like pokemon than real creatures.