In the age of patriarchs three,
Dutrus, Ectus, Spiralius free,
Among these lords of ancient might,
Ectus was the fearsome sight.
With mouth agape and teeth so sharp,
He played destruction's harp.
Through enemies he ripped and tore,
Like none had done before.
The sons of Isomeres fair
And sponges everywhere
Fell victim to his raiding spree
Across the ancient sea.
A complex mouth he built with care
To catch prey everywhere.
He molted skin and mouth with time,
In rhythm and in rhyme.
His cilia he cast away
For a more effective way.
Amoebae became his sperm,
A change both strange and firm.
His coelom he stripped down bare,
Removed what wasn't there
For function true and speed.
He kept only what he'd need.
Unnecessary scaffolding
He cast off like a ring.
His organs floated free inside
His pseudocoelom wide.
In burrowing he found his art,
Playing the hunter's part.
Through sediment he'd tear and rend
Until his foes would end.
The first predator was he
Upon the ancient sea.
The sons of Dutrus and Spiralius
Fell to his might so glorious.
In viciousness he bore a horde
Of worms who served their lord.
They conquered earth from shore to shore
And always wanted more.
Through earth great Ectus ripped
While soil from him slipped.
Destruction was his name
And carnage was his game.
From Ectus came two sons of might:
Bold Ishmael, ready to fight,
And clever Isaac, young and wise,
Who sought innovation's prize.
Now Ishmael held fast and true
To all his father knew.
Tradition was his guiding star
Through peace and times of war.
But Isaac chose a different way,
Innovation's display.
He'd build upon his father's art
But with a newer heart.
From Ishmael's faithful line
Came Priapus, strong and fine.
Patriarch of the Priapulids,
Who live where darkness hides.
Deep in the ocean's depths they dwell
In places none can tell.
Like ancient Ediacaran lands
Of hydrogen sulfide strands.
Without oxygen they thrive
And keep their line alive.
In waters dark and deep they stay
Until the judgment day.
Draco, Priapus' brother true,
Became patriarch too.
The mud dragons, horrific, wild,
Each nature's problem child.
Through muds they make their way
Both night and day.
Monsters in the deep they are
Beneath each shining star.
From Isaac came two sons of fame:
Nematus was his name,
And Rhineheart, bold and strong,
Would live his whole life long.
Nematus was quick and spry,
A nomad 'neath the sky.
He bore two sons to carry on:
Nematus II and Gordy's song.
Both sons became prodigal,
Their ways not traditional.
They turned to parasitic life
And caused their father strife.
But in his aging years,
Through sorrows and through tears,
Nematus left that way behind
And peace within him did find.
He became the ancestor great
Of worms throughout their state.
Eighty percent of animals
Are his descendants all.
His city was a sight to see
Of worm community.
From simple to complex they grew
In everything they'd do.
But Gordy chose the parasite way
And never did stray
From living in his brother's flesh,
His host's blood, warm and fresh.
The Gordian worms are his line,
Horrific by design.
They live within their victims' hearts
And tear their lives apart.
From Rhineheart came two more:
Lobopus to explore
And brave Loricus, armored well
With stories he would tell.
Loricus built armor thick
To protect from every trick.
He married Siri, maiden fair,
And lived beyond compare.
His sons live in the depths below
Where mysteries grow.
For half a billion years we thought
Their line to nothing brought.
But in nineteen eighty-three
We found them in the sea.
Alive and well they dwelt
Where pressure could be felt.
The Loricifer's tale
Would never fail.
Living fossils in the deep
Their ancient vigil keep.
These descendants of great Ectus
Show what can protect us:
Some armor, some speed,
Some parasitic greed.
The worms that rule the earth today
In their own way
Remember their ancestor's might
Who brought the predator's sight.
In every garden bed
Where earthworms make their tread,
The legacy lives on
From dusk until the dawn.
In every parasite
That causes fear and fright,
Ectus' spirit lives to tell
His predatory spell.
From mud dragon's lair
To ocean depths so rare,
His children roam the world
With tentacles unfurled.
The age of three patriarchs
Left its lasting marks
On all the world we see
Through all eternity.
But Ectus, most of all,
Heeded evolution's call
To be the hunter fierce and true
In all that he would do.
His legacy of tooth and claw
Became nature's law:
That predator and prey must dance
In life's great circumstance.
So honor fierce Ectus,
Who was so ravenous.
His hunger drove the change
Through evolution's range.
Without his predator's art
Life could not start
The arms race that would lead
To every living creed.
In every creature's fight
To live another night,
Ectus' spirit burns bright
Through all its might.