Doctor Mud Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Scientists have uncovered fossils of a strange worm with spines jutting out of its head that helped it trap prey in the sea 500 million years ago. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/08/04/scientists-id-spiny-prehistoric-sea-worm https://news.yale.edu/2017/08/03/capinatator-praetermissus-prehistoric-sea-creature-spines-spare Capinatator praetermissus Animation of swimming and feeding: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Neat article - thanks Doc! Fossil image: From this Article. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 Here is a link to the paper: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)30860-6 A Large Cambrian Chaetognath with Supernumerary Grasping Spines Derek E.G. Briggs6,Correspondence information about the author Derek E.G. BriggsEmail the author Derek E.G. Briggs , Jean-Bernard Caron Abstract: Chaetognaths (arrow worms) are a separate phylum (Chaetognatha) of small carnivorous animals, dominantly pelagic, and a major component of today’s plankton [ 1, 2 ]. The position of Chaetognatha among metazoan phyla remains equivocal—neither morphological nor molecular data provide definitive evidence [ 3 ]. Originating early in the Cambrian period [ 4 ], if not earlier [ 5 ], chaetognaths quickly became important members of marine metazoan communities [ 6 ]. Chaetognath grasping spines, originally reported as conodonts, occur worldwide in many Cambrian marine sediments [ 6, 7 ]. Fossilized chaetognath bodies, in contrast, are very rare: only two unequivocal specimens have been reported, both from the early Cambrian of China [ 8, 9 ]. Here we describe Capinatator praetermissus, a new genus and species, based on ∼50 specimens from several middle Cambrian Burgess Shale localities in British Columbia, many of which preserve evidence of soft tissues. Capinatator praetermissus reached body lengths of nearly 10 cm exclusive of fins, a much larger size than that of most living forms. Clusters of specimens preserving the body indicate that they were rapidly buried, providing indirect evidence that they swam near the seabed. The feeding apparatus comprises up to ∼25 spines in each half, almost double the maximum number in living chaetognaths. Early chaetognaths apparently occupied ecological niches associated with predatory euarthropods. The large body size and high number of grasping spines in C. praetermissus may indicate that miniaturization and migration to a planktonic lifestyle were secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Mwah,just the supplementary info is freely available It's in the nature of the beast, if you pardon the atrocious pun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 17 minutes ago, doushantuo said: Mwah,just the supplementary info is freely available It's in the nature of the beast, if you pardon the atrocious pun I have a copy, but I'm on my phone and can't upload a PDF from there. Hold tight and if someone else doesn't upload it I can - if it isn't too big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 5 Mb ,I saw. Heads up for this one,BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted August 4, 2017 Author Share Posted August 4, 2017 Some screen caps: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 Inventive great animations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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