Hallucigenia fossil map
Where fossils of Hallucigenia have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 500 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 500 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Ediacaran & Cambrian life |
|---|---|
| Lived | 521–505.3 million years ago (Stage 3 to Wuliuan) |
| Periods | Cambrian |
| Family | Hallucigeniidae |
| Named by | Conway Morris 1977 |
| Fossil records | 26 occurrences at 10 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Canada, China |
| Rock formations | Burgess Shale, Yuanshan, Yu'anshan, Hongjingshao, Wulongqing, Balang |
About Hallucigenia
Hallucigenia is a genus of lobopodian known from Cambrian-aged fossils in Burgess Shale-type deposits in Canada (Burgess Shale) and China, and from isolated spines around the world. The generic name reflects the type species' unusual appearance and eccentric history of study; when it was erected as a genus, H. sparsa was reconstructed as an enigmatic animal upside down and back to front. Lobopodians are a grade of Paleozoic panarthropods from which the velvet worms, water bears, and arthropods arose.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Hallucigenia (revision 1374719406), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 22 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in.
