An ancient predator was mistakenly classified as three different animals!

The anomalocaris, which translates to 'abnormal shrimp' was an bizarre looking predator that lurked in Cambrian water sources found in Canada, China, and Utah, among others. Many anomalocaris' have been found measuring up to 2 meters, and with a mouth of 32 overlapping plates, resembling a pineapple ring. It's eyes sat on two stalks with approximately 16,000 different lenses. However, the description of this animal didn't exist for many years until the data was corrected by Harry B. Whittington and Derek Briggs in 1985. What exactly did scientists need to correct?

Well, the first Anomalocaris ever found was actually split into three different parts. Joseph Frederick Whiteaves and Charles Doolittle Walcott had found the three pieces of the Anomalocaris and assumed that it was three different animals. He classified the three fossils as a sponge, a jellyfish, and a shrimp.

It was through no fault of their own, it was just that certain parts of the anomalocaris are harder to fossilize than others because of the genetic make up of the animal. Since the correction of the data, we now know that this terrifying looking giant shrimp existed in the past!

(Source)