Wiwaxia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids WiwaxiaTemporal range: Middle Cambrian
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| Conservation status | |
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Fossil
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| Scientific classification | |
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Halwaxiida
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Wiwaxiidae
Walcott, 1911
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Wiwaxia
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| Binomial name | |
| Wiwaxia corrugata Walcott, 1911
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Wiwaxia corrugata was a unique animal that lived a very long time ago. We only know about it from fossils found in Canada, in a special place called the Burgess Shale. This creature is now extinct, meaning it no longer lives on Earth.
Contents
What Was Wiwaxia Like?
Wiwaxia looked a bit like a small porcupine without its quills. It was only about 30 millimeters (a little over an inch) long. Its body was covered with both sharp spines and flat scales. Scientists believe these spines helped protect Wiwaxia from other animals that might have tried to eat it.
How Did Wiwaxia Live?
Wiwaxia likely moved around by walking or crawling on the seafloor. It probably ate by grazing on tiny bits of food or by scavenging for dead plants and animals in the sediment.
Where Did Wiwaxia Live?
So far, about 140 Wiwaxia fossils have been found in the Burgess Shale. However, similar scales and spines have been discovered in rocks of the same age in other parts of the world. This suggests that Wiwaxia was common and lived in many different places during the Cambrian Period.
Images for kids
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Juvenile Wiwaxia corrugata from the Burgess Shale, viewed side-on. You can see its mouthparts at the front.
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Wiwaxia corrugata from the Burgess Shale. Its mouthparts are clearer in the zoomed-in view.
See also
In Spanish: Wiwaxia para niños
