Three-Eyed Creature Related to Crustaceans and Insects Could Shed Light on Early Arthropod Evolution

(Photo : Unsplash / Wes Warren)

A prehistoric fossil animal that goes back as far as 520 million years has been redescribed by a team of researchers from the University of Leicester, Yunnan University's Institute of Paleontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, and London's Natural History Museum. The distinct animal helps shed light on a knowledge gap regarding early arthropod evolution.

Kylinxia: A Three-Eyed Relative of Crustaceans and Insects

The distinct animal, scientifically known as Kylinxia, underwent imaging through a CT scanner. As such, the procedures revealed that it had a soft anatomy embedded over the rock. Interestingly, it was found to be three-eyed on its head and to harbor some frightening limbs that could have seemingly been used in capturing its prey. It was also observed to be as big as a large shrimp.

The fossil findings were found in the Cambrian Cehngjian biota of the Yunnan Province of China. More than 250 fossil species from the area have been described.

PhD student Rober O'Flynn, who is from the School of Geography, Geology and Environment at the University of Leicester and who led the study, explains that the fossil animal's preservation is quite extraordinary. The lead author adds that, following the CT scan, the subject can be digitally turned around, enabling the researchers to look into a creature that lived and breathed more than 500 million years ago. When they rotated the animal, they observed that its head had six different segments, which is similar to many arthropods that are alive today.

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Early Arthropod Evolution

Such fossil findings are crucial to understanding the history and evolution of arthropods. These creatures had segmented bodies and mostly had paired limbs. Lobsters, crabs, spiders, trilobites, and insects all fall under this category.

While several arthropods can be found in the fossil records, most of them only have their hard skeletons preserved. However, this specimen was nearly complete and, thus, allowed scientists to know more about its distinct head.

Professor Yu Liu, who is from Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, explains that, along with O'Flynn, the professor was looking into the micro-CT data as part of the PhD student's thesis. As such, they did so with hopes of correcting and further refining earlier interpretations of the Kylinxia genus' head.

The Natural History Museum's Dr. Gred Edgecombe adds that most theories regarding arthropod heads are based on species that have fewer segments compared to the ones alive today. Finding Kylinxia's two pairs of legs suggests that arthropods alive today could have inherited a head with six segments from an ancestor from over 518 million years ago.

Professor Mark Williams, who serves as the primary supervisor of O'Flynn, explains that the Kylinxia, along with the biota of Chengjiang, are vital in knowing about early arthropod evolution.