A dazzling, 450-million-year-old fossil of an ancient arthropod has been unearthed in New York, preserved in "fool's gold," or iron pyrite, which gives it a striking golden appearance.
This rare fossil, named Lomankus edgecombei, resembles a shrimp and is a distant relative of modern horseshoe crabs, scorpions, and spiders. Its discovery at Beecher's Trilobite Bed near Rome, New York, provides new insights into ancient sea life during the Ordovician Period, a time when life was just beginning to emerge on land.
Preserved by Fool's Gold: Fossil Reveals Evolution of Arthropod Sensory Structures
Scientists believe Lomankus used its specialized front appendages not to catch prey, as some similar species did, but to sense its dark, low-oxygen ocean-floor habitat.
Unlike other ancient arthropods with prominent claws, this species developed long, flexible structures to help it navigate its environment CNN reported. The creature also lacked eyes, hinting that it relied heavily on its sensory appendages for survival.
Lead researcher Luke Parry, from the University of Oxford, used computed tomography (CT) scanning to uncover the hidden details of the fossil, preserved by pyrite in three dimensions.
This technique allowed researchers to analyze delicate structures, including thin sensory parts on the arthropod's head. Pyrite's density allowed for the extraordinary preservation of the creature's anatomy, which sheds light on the evolution of head appendages in arthropods, such as the antennae in insects and pincers in spiders.
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Ancient Arthropods
The fossil was named after Greg Edgecombe, a well-known arthropod expert, and represents a group of extinct arthropods called megacheira.
Lomankus's unique adaptations reveal how ancient arthropods evolved to meet the challenges of their environments, even in the harsh, oxygen-poor conditions of ancient ocean beds, according to Phys.org. The discovery provides a rare glimpse into the incredible adaptations of early sea life, preserving a "biological Swiss army knife" that helped pave the way for the evolution of diverse arthropod species still present today.
A newly discovered 450-million-year-old golden fossil of an arthropod, preserved in fool's gold, provides a rare glimpse into ancient marine life from the Ordovician Period.
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