New Species of Ordovician Arthropods Discovered by Paleontologists

Paleontologists at the University of Leicester use fossilized specimens discovered in South Africa 20 years ago to describe new genus and mysterious multi-class arthropod species.

It was named scientifically keurbos susanae And after the discoverer’s mother, the ancient arthropods lived during the Ordovician about 444 million years ago.

“Su is a flipped, legsless, headless wonder,” said Professor Sarah Gabott, a research author at the University of Leicester.

“Amazingly, her inner side is a mineralized time capsule. Muscles, muscles, tendons, and even courage are all preserved in unimaginable details.”

“Even so, her durable shell, legs and head are missing. She’s lost to collapse over 440 million years ago.”

“We are now convinced that she is a primitive marine arthropod, but her exact evolutionary relationship remains frustrating and elusive.”

“Today, about 85% of the animals on Earth are arthropods, including shrimp, lobsters, spiders, mites, mites, worms and centipedes.”

“They have excellent fossil records dating back to half a billion years, but while fossil remains are usually external features, “Su” is totally against it, as it is her inside, which is fossilized. ”

Fossil specimen of keurbos susanae Found in SOOM shale in South Africa.

“These layers lay on the seabed more than 440 million years ago when catastrophic glaciers wiped out about 85% of Earth’s species.

“The ocean basin, where ‘Su’ swimming was somehow protected from the worst frozen state and attractive animal communities, including ‘Su’, appears to have been evacuated there. ”

“The conditions of the sediment that “Su” came to rest were extremely toxic. ”

“There was no oxygen, but worse hydrogen sulfide was dissolved in the water.”

Researchers suspect that strange chemical alchemy was working to create fossils and their unusual inner preservation.

“However, the unique preservation of ‘Su’ makes it difficult to compare her to other fossils of the era, and how she fits into the evolutionary tree of life remains a mystery,” Professor Gabott pointed out.

“The small roadside quarry where I found fossils 25 years ago at the start of my academic career, almost disappeared, so it’s unlikely that we’ll find any other specimens.”

“The fossils are very difficult to interpret and they wanted to find another specimen with their heads and feet intact.”

study It will be published in the journal Paleontology.

____

Sarah Gabott. 2025. A new euarthropope from Soom Shale (Ordovician) Konservat-Lagerstätte in South Africa. Paleontologyin printing; doi: 10.1002/spp2.70004