Manitoba Museum paleontologist helps in discovery of 506-million-year-old predator
Paleontologists with the Manitoba Museum and Royal Ontario Museum have made a remarkable discovery – an extinct, moth-like predator that lived hundreds of millions of years ago.
On Wednesday, the museums announced the discovery of the Mosura fentoni, which lived in the Burgess Shale in British Columbia 506 million years ago.
The ancient predator was about the size of your index finger and had three eyes, spiny jointed claws, a circular mouth lined with teeth, and swimming flaps along its sides. According to a news release, these traits show it was a part of an extinct group of arthropods called 'radiodonts.'
The museums explain that unlike other radiodonts, the Mosura fentoni had an 'abdomen-like body region made up of multiple segments at its back end.' The reason for this adaptation remains unknown, but researchers believe it may be related to habitat preference or behavioural characteristics.
Researchers say the Mosura fentoni is an important discovery as it provides insights into the ancestral traits and internal anatomy of arthropods.
A specimen will be exhibited at the Manitoba Museum later this year.
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