They find a rare marine creature of 520 million years old

In China, the fossil of an ancient marine creature has been discovered and has attracted the attention of more than one because of its curious appearance. This being extinct, that lived about 520 million years ago, it was characterized by 18 tentacles around the mouth.

The creature was discovered by a group of scientists led by Jakob Vinther of Bristol University, south of Kunning, in Yunnan Province. This unusual specimen has been christened as Daihua in the honor of the Dai tribe, typical of the province.

According to Jakob Vinther, the creature wore an immobile lifestyle despite many tentacles. Fundamentally, it feeds by filtering water and extracting plankton. In addition, in each of its tentacles, the Daihua he had thin branches, like feathers, full of rows of large ciliary hairs, with which he probably had the habit of taking his food.

After the incredible discovery, in the scientific journal Science liveVinther said that: "Thanks to the fossils, we have been able to discover the origin of these strange ctenophores.Although we can now show that they came from a very sensitive place, it does not make them any less strange. […] We released a zoology textbook and tried to focus on the differences and similarities, then another fossil appeared to fill that gap. "

A very important aspect of this marine creature is that it is a "missing link of evolution", which reveals the origin of the ctenophores. The so – called Cambrian explosion, a period during which the evolution began to accelerate, occurred about 520 to 540 million years ago. It is after this event that the ancestors of worms, insects, fish and other vertebrates are born. Until then, it was believed that primitive organisms such as hydras and sponges were the basis of evolution. However, the discovery of this fossil shows that there was still an intermediate link.

Vinther suggests that some of the ancestors of the ctenophores had skeletons and that their ancient tentacles became those which are densely packed in contemporary animals.

Gallery of images

tags:
China
Marine creature
Fossil