A new species of megacheilan arthropod from the Ordovician period has been discovered by University of Oxford palaeontologist Luke Parry and colleagues, preserved in 3D by pyrite (commonly known as fool's gold).
Romanx Edgecomb Bay They lived in the Ordovician seas about 450 million years ago.
This fossil was discovered at a paleontological site in New York, USA. Beecher's Trilobite Bed.
Apart from trilobites, other species are less common at this location, reflecting the rarity of this find.
“These remarkable fossils show that the delicate anatomical features of pyrite that characterize Beecher's trilobite beds were rapidly replaced before they collapsed, and that the evolution of life in the oceans 450 million years ago. “It shows how important evidence is preserved,” said Professor Derek of Yale University. Briggs.
Romanx Edgecomb Bay belongs to Mega Kaylaan iconic group of arthropods with large deformed legs on the front of the body that were used to capture prey.
Megakeirans were highly diverse during the Cambrian period (538-485 million years ago), but are thought to have become largely extinct by the Ordovician period (485-443 million years ago). I did.
discovery of Romanx Edgecomb Bay This provides an important new clue to solving the long-standing mystery of how arthropods evolved head appendages. That is, one or more pairs of legs at the front of the body have been modified for specialized functions, such as sensing the environment or capturing prey.
Such appendages include the antennae of insects and crustaceans, and the pincers and fangs of spiders and scorpions.
“Today, there are more species of arthropods than any other animal group on Earth,” Parry says.
“Part of the key to this success is the highly adaptable head and its accessories, which have adapted to a variety of challenges like a biological Swiss Army knife.”
holotype specimen of Romanx Edgecomb Bay: The photo on the left and other images are 3D models from CT scans. Image credit: Luke Parry / Yu Liu / Ruixin Ran.
Other megakeirans used large primary appendages to capture prey; Romanx Edgecomb Bay The typical claw is much reduced and has three long, flexible, whip-like flagella at the end.
This suggests that the new species was using this anterior appendage to sense the environment rather than capture prey, giving it a very different life than its more ancient relatives from the Cambrian period. It shows that you are sending style.
Unlike other megakeirans, Romanx Edgecomb Bay It appears to lack eyes, suggesting it lived in dark, low-oxygen environments and used its forelimbs to sense and search for food.
“Instead of expressing a dead end, Romanx Edgecomb Bay “This shows that megacheirans continued to diversify and evolve beyond the Cambrian, and that their once fearsome giant appendages now serve very different functions,” Parry said.
This fossil provides new clues to the much-debated question of what the large appendages of megacheilans correspond to in modern species.
“These beautiful new fossils show a very transparent plate on the underside of the head, associated with a mouth and flanked by large appendages,” said Yu Liu, a professor at Yunnan University.
“This is a very similar arrangement to the head of an early Cambrian megacheiran in China, except for the lack of eyes, suggesting that: Romanx Edgecomb Bay It probably lived in a deeper, darker niche than its Cambrian relatives. ”
“This arrangement of head features is similar to modern arthropods and suggests that the large appendages correspond to the antennae of insects or the chelicerae (mouthparts) of spiders and scorpions.”
This finding is reported in the following article: paper in diary current biology.
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luke parry others. A pyritized Ordovician arthropod of the family Leancoididae. current biologyin press. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.013
Source: www.sci.news
