New species of trilobites have been identified in a new study. The researchers unearthed them from rocks bearing Cambrian-Ordovician layers in Thailand.
New Trilobite Species Found
Researchers found the fossils of trilobites on the coast of Ko Tarutao island in the Thai province of Satun in Thailand. The tuffs, which reportedly have some layers from the Cambrian-Ordovician period, showed different shapes and sizes of trilobites, suggesting new species.
In the study, the researchers named the 10 new species as follows - Tsinania sirindhornae, Pseudokoldinioidia maneekuti, Pagodia uhleini, Asaphellus charoenmiti, Tarutaoia techawani, Jiia talowaois, Caznaia imsamuti, Anderssonella undulata, Lophosaukia nuchanongi and Corbinia perforata.
Professor Nigel Hughes and his colleagues at the University of California, Riverside, found tuffs containing crystals of zircon, a mineral that originated during an eruption and is named for the toughness of the rock layer in which it is found. It is in contrast to some other types of rocks or silt.
Zircon resists heat and weather and is chemically stable. It endures when the minerals in other types of rocks corrode and is as durable as steel. Individual uranium atoms slowly decay inside these hardy zircon crystals to become lead atoms.
Hughes said they can determine the age of the eruption and the fossil by dating the formation of the zircon using radio isotope techniques. Tuffs from this specific epoch, the Late Cambrian, which spans 497-485 million years ago, are extremely uncommon. It is noteworthy to find this anywhere in the world as it is among the worst dated intervals of time in Earth's antiquity.
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New Discovery Links Thailand and Australia
According to Dr. Shelly Wernette, a geologist at Texas State University, stated, the tuffs will allow them to have a better comprehension of other countries like China, Australia, and even North America, where similar fossils have been found in rocks that cannot be dated. Additionally, the tuff will help them determine the age of the fossils they unearthed in Thailand.
"We can now connect Thailand to parts of Australia, a really exciting discovery," Wernette continued, "but the most interesting discovery was 12 types of trilobites that have been seen in other parts of the world but never in Thailand before."
This area was on the periphery of Gondwanaland, an extinct supercontinent that comprised Africa, India, Australia, South America, and Antarctica at the time the trilobites lived there.
Hughes added that part of our job has been to figure out where this part of Thailand was in proximity to the rest of Gondwanaland because continents drift over time. He likened it to figuring out a 3D jigsaw puzzle that moves and changes shapes. The new findings, he believes, will enable them to achieve that.
"What we have here is a chronicle of evolutionary change accompanied by extinctions. The Earth has written this record for us, and we're fortunate to have it," Hughes added, noting that the more we know, the better we can prepare ourselves for the challenges we may encounter on the planet.
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