Paleontologists made a remarkable history by finding a fossil of an extinct primordial giant worm with terrifying snapping jaws. This prehistoric worm is known as Websteroprion Armstrong and it used to roam around the sea around 400 million years ago from today.
A team of international scientist from the University of Bristol, Lund University in Sweden and the Royal Ontario Museum started studying on the fossil of W. Armstrong. The specimen was kept at the Royal Ontario Museum since the mid-1990s. researchers found that the giant worm was the close relative of earthworms and leeches. But, it used to roam around the ocean. Their findings were first published in the journal of Scientific Reports.
A paleontologist from Lund University in Sweden and the lead author of the journal, Dr. Mats Eriksson said in a statement,“Gigantism in animals is an alluring and ecologically important trait, usually associated with advantages and competitive dominance. It is, however, a poorly understood phenomenon among marine worms and has never before been demonstrated in a fossil species”. This species has the largest jaws among all fossil worms ever recorded. The length of the jaws could reach over one centimeter in length and easily visible to the naked eyes.
According to ScienceDaily, the species was at least one meter in length. Researchers estimated the length of the beast by comparing the jaw length with living species. This extinct species has some similarities with the living species named, giant eunicid which is commonly known as ‘Bobbit worms’.
Scientists considered the species as a fearsome and opportunistic ambush predator. They used their jaws to prey fish and cephalopods. This new species is named after the honor of Derek K Armstrong of Ontario Geological Survey. He collected the specimen in June 1994, while investigating the rocks and fossils at a remote and temporary exposure in Ontario. Since then, the specimen was stored at the Royal Ontario Museum until it caught the attention of the researchers.
