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Through careful analysis of fossilized layers of the seabed dating back around 20 million years, scientists have reconstructed the lair of a giant underwater worm that would most likely have been hidden in the sediment before jumping to strain. an ambush to its prey.
The newly identified creature is likely an ancestor of the Eunice aphroditois or the bobbit worm that exists today, say the researchers – these scary modern-day creatures can grow up to 10 feet in length, grabbing and trapping their food with powerful jaws and razor-sharp mouthparts.
Although it is already believed that the history of worms like these dates back hundreds of millions of years – possibly as far back as the early Paleozoic – their soft body parts do mean that there is a record fossil largely incomplete for them, which makes this new discovery significant.
The team behind the new study recovered and processed 319 specimens to reconstruct a fossil trace (the trace of an animal, rather than the animal itself), an L-shaped burrow of approximately 2-3 centimeters (0.8-1.2 inches) in diameter and more at 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) in length.
The fossil trace, also known as ichnospecia, has been named Magnificent Pennichnus!; Based on an analysis of the size and shape of the burrow, as well as signs of disturbance left in the rocky disc, it appears to be home to an ancient worm that also jumped off the seabed to capture prey.
“These morphological characteristics of Pennichnus are consistent with the activities of an ambush predator, and therefore we hypothesize that giant polychaetes, such as bobbit worms, are the most likely trace makers, ”the researchers write in their paper.
One of these morphological characteristics is the high concentration of iron near the top of the burrow. This suggests that the ancient worms used mucus to rebuild their lairs after attacking, as bacteria feeding on this mucus would have left traces of iron.
Other potential inhabitants of P. formosa, including shrimp and mollusks, have been excluded: shrimp tend to create more open and complex burrows, while the shape and structure of the burrow does not match the patterns left by mollusks.
The findings fill a gap in our knowledge of how this type of creature has evolved and developed over time – and how dramatic life (and death) on the ocean floor has been for millions of years. ‘years.
“To sum up, 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,” write the researchers.
“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 sank to escape, causing further disturbance of the sediment around the burrow opening.
The research was published in Scientific reports.
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