Fossil hunters uncover the lair of a giant predatory worm

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Paleontologists at National Taiwan University believe the 6.5-foot-long burrow once housed a worm-like predator that would surface from the seabed to ambush sea creatures and drag them, alive, into the sea. his lair.

Experts working in northeastern Taiwan have reconstructed large L-shaped burrows dating from 23 million years ago from seabed layers using traces of fossils – geological features, such as traces of tracks, burrows and cavities of preserved plant roots in rocks, which experts use to draw conclusions about the behavior of ancient creatures.

Using 319 specimens, experts reconstructed a fossil record of a dugout – nicknamed Pennichnus beautiful! – which was 6.5 feet long and about an inch in diameter, and morphological evidence indicates that the tunnels were home to giant marine worms, like the modern-day bobbit worm.

The bobbit worm, or sand attacker (Eunice aphroditois), is an aquatic predatory hairworm that ranges from 4 inches to 10 feet in length and lives in burrows it creates on the ocean floor. The bobbit worm takes its name from the Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt case, in which Lorena cut her husband John Wayne’s penis with a kitchen knife.

Living primarily in the Pacific Ocean, lumbar worms hide in long, narrow burrows on the sea floor and propel themselves upward to catch unsuspecting fish, large mollusks and other worms, before bringing them back, again. alive, in their dens.

In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the report’s authors note that the removal of an ancient worm and prey in the sediment could have caused the preserved “feather-like” structures in Pennichnus formosae.
Clockwise from upper left corner: upper part of Pennichnus burrow; a bobbit worm (photo courtesy of Chutinun Mora); a bobbit worm burrow; plan view of the upper part of the Pennichnus Burrow; vertical section of lower part of Pennichnus burrow.

They identified a high concentration of iron in the upper part of the burrow and believe that the worm may have secreted mucus to strengthen the wall of the burrow.

“We hypothesize that about 20 million years ago, on the southeastern border of the Eurasian continent, ancient Bobbit worms colonized the seabed while ambushing a passing meal,” wrote the authors of the report.

“When the prey approached a worm, it exploded out of its burrow, grabbing and dragging the prey into the sediment. Under the seabed, the desperate prey waded to escape, further disturbing the sediment around the burrow opening. ” they described.

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