It has been said that marine life has not been fully documented. There is so much more to be discovered and a lot to be found. According to records, 91% of ocean species are still up for documentation.
Yale paleontologist, Javier Luque, together with his team of international researchers, have announced their discovery of over 100 exceptionally well-preserved specimens from Columbia and the United States.
The team has found a collection of mid-Cretaceous period fossils that dated about 95,000,000 years ago.
Their discovery includes fossils of over 100 tiny comma shrimps, some true shrimp, and dozens of adult and juvenile crab-like specimen that represents an entirely new branch of the crab's evolutionary tree.
According to the researchers, the "Callichimaera perplexa" Is the most interesting discovery. The said creature is the earliest example of a swimming arthropod with paddle-like legs since 250 million years ago when the sea scorpions have gone extinct. Arthropods are invertebrates with exoskeletons, paired and jointed appendages, and bodies that are segmented.
The given name is derived from a mythological creature with body features from different animals known as a chimera. "Callichimeara perplexa" actually translates to "perplexing beautiful chimera."
The Callichimaera perplexa has an unusual and petite appearance, as noted by Luque. Its size is close to that of a quarter. The creature has large compound eyes with no sockets, leg-like mouth parts, claws that are bent, exposed tail, and a long body. These features are typical for pelagic crab larvae. Their observations have suggested that several of the said larval traits might have been retained and amplified in the tiny adults because of changes in the rates of development or heterochrony. This process could lead to probable evolution. For example, the oar-like legs observed in early forms of crabs are the creatures' adaptation to swimming.
Luque gave the nickname "platypus of the crab world" to the Callichimaera perplexa because of its uniqueness. The paleontologist also pointed out how novel forms could evolve and would later become disparate as time goes by. Today's crabs are usually big animals with strong claws and small eyes, and with tails tucked under their bodies. The crab world's platypus has defied all the features that people see on crabs today.
The paleontologist has expressed his excitement that today scientists are still finding completely new species that have inhabited the same world in the distant past.
The team's paper was published in the ScienceAdvances journal.
