Spectacularly preserved fossils reveal that giant-jawed marine insects known as “terrifying beasts” ruled the oceans more than 500 million years ago.
Scientists recently discovered the fossils of a new carnivorous insect. Timole Bestia Copleyor “beast of terror” – lives in northern Greenland and is described in a study published Wednesday (January 3) in the journal scientific progress.
This predator, which existed during the early Cambrian period (541 million to 485.4 million years ago), had a row of fins on each side of its body and a pair of long antennae. Studies have shown that it could grow up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) in length, making it one of the largest swimming animals of its time.
Related: A 500-million-year-old insect with shuriken-like spikes named after the giant sandworm Dune
“Timolevestia was a giant of its time and would have been near the top of the food chain,” Jacob Binther, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol in the UK, said in a statement. “So they are as important as the major carnivores of the modern ocean, such as Cambrian sharks and seals.”
It was discovered in Greenland’s deposits known as the Sirius Passet Formation. Timole Bestia The samples were so well preserved that scientists were able to analyze the worms’ digestive systems to determine what these carnivores were eating when they died. Most of the prey present in the worm’s gut were marine bivalves known as Cambrian arthropods. IsoxisScientists are Isoxis It’s still in the jaw area.
Isoxis “It was very common in Sirius passet and had long protective spines pointing both forward and backward to avoid being eaten,” study co-authors said. morten runde nielsensaid the former PhD student at the University of Bristol in a statement. “But it is clear that they could not completely avoid that fate. Timole Bestia I munched on them in large quantities. ”
By bombarding T. Copley Analyzing the sample with an electron beam, the scientists revealed a nerve center in the abdomen known as the ventral ganglion. The presence of this nerve bundle, which probably helps control the nematode’s locomotor muscles, is unique to an extant group of small marine worms known as caterpillars or trichognathids. this is, T. Copley The study authors write that they are distant relatives of modern trichognathians. However, one important difference between these ancient insects and modern trichognathians is the position of their jaws.
“Today, the caterpillar has formidable setae on the outside of its head to catch prey, but Timole Bestia “There’s a jaw in your head,” study co-author luke parrysaid a paleontologist at the University of Oxford in a statement. ”Timole Bestia And other fossils like it provide a link between closely related organisms that look very different today. ”