Cambroraster

Cambroraster is an extinct monotypic genus of hurdiid radiodont, dating to the middle Cambrian, and represented by the single formally described species Cambroraster falcatus.

[1] Hundreds of specimens were found in the Burgess Shale, and described in 2019.

[2] A large animal (for its era) at up to 30 centimetres (12 in) (but not as long as Titanokorys at 50 centimetres (20 in)), it is characterized by a significantly enlarged horseshoe-shaped dorsal carapace (H-element), and presumably fed by sifting through the sediment with its well-developed tooth plates (oral cone) and short frontal appendages with hooked spines.

[1] Nicknamed the "spaceship" fossil when first found, for the way its dorsal carapace resembles the fictional Millennium Falcon, the specific epithet falcatus in its scientific name is a nod to that resemblance.

This species is known only from a juvenile dorsal carapace, so it was not given a specific name.

Reconstruction of the head region of Cambroraster falcatus . A: Dorsal view, B: Ventral view, Ey: Eye, Fa: Frontal appendage, He:H-element, Bp: Bilobate posterior region, Lp: Posterolateral process, Oc: Oral cone, Pe: P-element, Pn: P-element neck