Alternate Cambrian Explosion - Kinorhyncha

For a primer in Kinorhyncha, or "Mud Dragons", see this Wikipedia page. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinorhyncha

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In this alternate present day, the Mud Dragons started to take the niches of Arthropods, with forms resembling both insects and shrimp outwardly. The most primitive ones are aquatic, like this.


Some of these aquatic forms are tiny and form part of the oceanic plankton - 

Land dwelling forms can resemble both insects and myriapods, with many kinds being crawling terrestrial predators.

Flying kinds of Mud Dragon exist too, with the most primitive ones being fair sized birdlike predators:


The most specialized forms are small and insect-like, and vary from swift-winged hawkers... 

To delicate nectar-feeders.

Various small, beetle-like omnivorous forms are evident everywhere, and can form plagues -

All in all, the Mud Dragons tend to have restricted themselves to roles generally resembling Arthropods, to which they are distantly related.

All images, designs and writing on this blog are the property of Timothy Donald Morris, do not use, reproduce, or copy them without my permission.
© Timothy Donald Morris 2021

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