The largest animal species of the Cambrian period, a marine predator with a segmented body and a pair of grasping appendages, lived much longer than previously thought and grew to sizes much larger than previously known.

The animals, known as anomalocaridids, were thought to have gone extinct after the Cambrian period, 540 million to 500 million years ago. Now a newly discovered specimen indicates they lived 30 million years longer, into the Early Ordovician period.

The new specimen measures more than three feet in length; the biggest specimen previously known was about two feet long.