Scientists at London’s Natural History Museum have discovered a new group of well-preserved fossils dating back over 400 million years.
The fossils appear to be a new species of echinoderm, a type of marine invertebrate that’s a distant relative of the starfish.
They were discovered in Anticosti Island in Quebec, Canada and have been given the name Rhenopyrgus viviani – the researchers believe they lived about 435 million years ago.
The fossils give new clues about the ecology of these creatures as well as their appearance – which looks pretty rude if you ask us.
Dr Tim Ewin, who led the Natural History Museum team said that by discovering this new creature in the annals of history, it will help scientists of today understand more about contemporary challenges.
‘A big part about understanding early life, such as these Rhenopyrgids from 435 Million years ago, is simply knowing what that life looked like and how they behaved. Being able to accurately reconstruct an animal gives us valuable insights into how it lived and in cases, such as this, they can prove to be quite unique in appearance and have surprising behaviour.
‘By expanding our knowledge of how animals in the past lived and evolved we can better understand why they became extinct and so protect the biodiversity of our planet today.’
Previously it was thought that these animals were burrow dwellers, able to contract the entire stem into the sediment and hide away. Instead Dr Ewin’s team have reconstructed them as bottom dwelling “mud-stickers” that stand erect.
The animals were supported by the insertion of a bulbous sac-like structure at the base of the stem into a muddy sea floor and were only able contract a small part of the top of the stem to protect important openings such as the anus.
Dr Ewin explained: ‘Rather than living in mud burrows we now believe these unusual looking creatures protruded from the sea floor displaying a degree of flexibility. This allowed them to place their mouth higher up into the water column to feed.
‘It is remarkable how new fossil evidence can alter our perceptions of ancient life.’