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Long live the onychophoran

If the hypothesis that Hallucigenia was an onychophoran is correct, it means that Hallucigenia’s lineage is a long-lived one. Oncychophorans have weathered all of Earth’s mass extinctions, but they have never become a very diverse group — there are fewer than 100 species of onychophoran alive today.

A modern onychophoran


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Hallucigenia: A mysterious onychophoran?


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What's with that weird caterpillar-like onychophoran? Check out the Almost Arthropod.
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Naraoia


Onychophoran photo provided by Dr. Lynn Kimsey and the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California Davis
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