The Dune books are works of art when it comes to creating an epic sci-fi universe and due to its inspiration. The name of an ancient sea worm was taken from the iconic sandworms of the book. As such, the recently discovered sea worms were given a name based on sandworms in the Dune series.
Ancient Sea Worm Fossils
According to Science Alert, a new species of ancient sea worm was discovered and was given a name based on Dune's sandworms. The discovered fossils were called Shaihuludia shurikeni, which was inspired by Dune's Shai-Hulid sandworms.
The recent worm fossils were discovered in the crossing of northern Utah and southern Idaho among their geological formation. The fossils were estimated to be half a billion years old, dating back to 505 million years ago.
A research team from US and Germany worked together to examine the worm, which they found smaller than the dune variety. The worm was small enough to fit on one's hand and had noticeable star-shaped chaetas, or back bristles.
Initially, scientists were unsure as to what they had discovered but upon close analysis, they found out that the fossil wasn't of a mineral, but of an animal.
Fossilized Ancient Sea Worm
According to The University of Kansas, Julien Kimming, a State Museum of Natural History in Germany geobiologist, the fossil was preserved fossil was interesting due to how it had soft tissue in the form of an iron oxide blob.
Kimmig then pointed out that due to the preserved blob, they drew the conclusion that it came from a diseased animal, which started decomposing before the fossilization process. To understand the fossils, the team applied numerous techniques like spectrometry through energy-dispersive X-rays and electron microscopy scanning.
The researchers placed the newly discovered creature under the segmented worm categorization or annelid. Its name drew inspiration from Dune's Shai-Hulud, which were planets coming from the book's planet Arrakis, and the Japanese throwing star, the shuriken.
Rare Discovery
As noted in the Lyell Collection, there was only a single annelid species discovered in the Spence Shale Lagerstätte site until the recent discovery. As such, the site is known for being a goldmine for fossilized remains, with the region looking like half a billion years old.
The new discovery sheds new light on annelids by being the second discovery in the area. The new study would also allow researchers to properly reclassify other fossils around the same location.
Science Alert reports that in the Cambrian, marine ecosystems within the geological area would've been dominated by mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, and even earlier forms of arthropods.
Rhiannon LaVine, a University of Kansas paleobiologist, discussed how exciting it was that the planet has history when it comes to different environments despite them existing over billions of years. The paleobiologist shared how it was exciting that everything was on the same ground humans stand on.
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