Amphioxus lyrics

Amphioxus
by Sam Hinton

A fish-like thing appeared among the annelids one day.
It hadn`t any parapods nor cetae to display.
It hadn`t any lungs, nor jaws, nor ventral nervous cord,
But it had a lot of gill slits and it had a notochord.

Chorus:
It`s a long way from Amphioxus. It`s a long way to us.
It`s a long way from Amphioxus to the meanest human cuss.
Well, it`s goodbye to fins and gill slits, and welcome, lungs and hair!
It`s a long, long way from Amphioxus, but we all came from there.

He wasn`t much to look at and he scarce knew how to swim,
And Nereus was very sure he hadn`t come from him.
The mollusks wouldn`t own it and the arthropods got sore,
So the poor thing had to burrow in the sand along the shore.

(chorus)

He burrowed in the sand before a crab could nip his tail,
And he said `Gill slits and miotomes are all to no avail.
I`ve grown a metapleural fold and sport an aural hood,
But all these fine new characters don`t do me any good.

(chorus)

He sulked awhile down in the sand without a lot of pep,
Then he stiffened up his notochord and said, `I`ll beat `em yet!
Let `em laugh and show their ignorance. I don`t mind their jeers.
Just wait until they see me in hundred million years.

(chorus)

My notochord shall change into a chain of vertebrae
And as fins my metapleural folds shall agitate the sea.
My tiny ventral nervous cord will be a mighty brain
And the vertebrates shall dominate the animal domain.

(chorus
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