Design by Lauryn D Year 11

This may come as a shock to some of you, but over 400 million years ago the fish known in many of our hearts the glorious Sacabambaspis went extinct. I dedicate this post as a memorial to the Sacabambaspis and its friends.

Life in the Ordovician period was eventful coming right after the Cambrian explosion. Everyone was new to this whole multi-cellular complex organism thing and the basics were still being explored. One creature, the Sacabambaspis, found itself living in the ocean with no jaw and no fins with only its tail being used to generate movement. But despite the lack of a jaw, the Sacabambaspis still had its beautiful and recognizable smile that would warm the heart of all early life.

This wonderful creature preferred to live life in safety, adorning a dorsal plate on its head to protect itself from the uncertain dangers of this cruel world. However, most unpredictably, this armoured plate unfortunately could not protect the Sacabambaspis from the unforgiving five mass extinction events that occurred during the Ordovician period.

While most of the accompanying life with the Sacabambaspis also fell victim to these devastating events, fortunately the close relative of well-known creatures the starfish and the sea urchin, known as the crinoid, lived through the Ordovician period and is still alive today. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to interview this creature as it has taken a vow of silence to commemorate the passing of its friends, something I deeply respect. I hope we all support the crinoid in this time of mourning; I cannot imagine the grief it must feel after losing Sacabambaspis its dear friend.

As a tribute to the Sacabambaspis, Japanese music composer Nico has composed a short song dedicated to the Sacabambaspis’ whimsy titled “Sacabambaspis” this was later covered in English by Will Stetson and posted to Spotify. The opening lyrics are as follows:

Sacasaca bam bam bas pis pis
Sacasacasaca bam bam bas pis pis
Sacasaca bam bam bas pis pis
Sacasacasaca bam bam bam bam bas pis

I encourage you to listen to the rest of song and take the poetic lyrics to heart as we mourn the loss of our lamented Sacabambaspis.

I will now take this time to make honourable mention of the other creatures who lived and died with the Sacabambaspis.

The cephalopod known as the Endoceras was remarkable for its long stature with a full length of 5.73 meters. The largest cephalopod to be known, and to be theorised by myself, a dear and close friend to the Sacabambaspis. I wish the best for its close relatives; they looked up to the Endoceras and its impressive shell. May we as well strive to greatness in the example of the great Endoceras.

Thank you for taking the time out your day to join me in the celebration of the life that the Sacabambaspis had lived, may this wonderful creature live always in our heart. And most importantly remember that maybe the real Sacabambaspis was the friends we made along the way.

Feel free to join me in a funeral service for the Sacabambaspis hosted by myself on Thursday 29^th May 2025 lunchtime outside the science staff centre in the branwhite.