Latest news with #BurgessShale
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Bizarre Three-Eyed Predator Hunted The Ocean Half a Billion Years Ago
A predator that swam Earth's oceans more than half a billion years ago is unlike any creature that lives on our planet today. Mosura fentoni possessed three eyes, grasped its prey with spiny claws, ate with a circular, tooth-lined maw, swam with the aid of flippers that lined either side of its body, and had 26 body segments – more than any other radiodont, the extinct group of animals to which it belonged. Luckily, it would only have been about as long as your finger – most things back then were pretty small. But its segmented tail end has fascinated paleontologists Joe Moysiuk of the Manitoba Museum and Jean-Bernard Caron of the Royal Ontario Museum, who characterized the strange beastie from its fossilized remains in the famous Burgess Shale. They named Mosura for its resemblance to a moth, even though the relationship is distant and tenuous. "Mosura has 16 tightly packed segments lined with gills at the rear end of its body," Moysiuk explains. "This is a neat example of evolutionary convergence with modern groups, like horseshoe crabs, woodlice, and insects, which share a batch of segments bearing respiratory organs at the rear of the body." The oceans of Earth's Cambrian period, between around 539 and 487 million years ago, were a different place than our planet today. That was when life really took off, and the ocean started to thrive. We don't have many records of that time, but the Burgess Shale is, really, if we're being completely frank, a marvel of fossil preservation. It formed around 508 million years ago, when silty mud flowed across the seafloor, trapping and preserving a large number of organisms as it went. That mud became a fossil bed known as a Lagerstätte, so exceptional that fine details, soft tissue, and even internal structures were captured in the sediment. It revealed a rich ecosystem filled with mysterious creatures so bizarre that we've often been left baffled and wrong about their anatomy. In this environment lived the radiodonts, a group of animals that shared a common ancestor with arthropods, but has since gone extinct. This group includes the famous Anomalocaris, a fearsome beast that could have grown up to a meter long. That might not seem very large to us, but back then, when most things were small, it was a giant. Mosura was not a giant, but it was one-of-a-kind, at least as far as we know. Moysiuk and Caron studied 61 fossilized individuals of the species, and characterized it in detail. "Very few fossil sites in the world offer this level of insight into soft internal anatomy," Caron says. "We can see traces representing bundles of nerves in the eyes that would have been involved in image processing, just like in living arthropods. The details are astounding." Of particular interest was the animal's circulatory system. It did not involve veins, as the circulatory systems of vertebrates do, but was instead open, like the circulation of modern arthropods. In crabs, spiders, insects, and other arthropods, the heart simply pumps blood (or hemolymph) into cavities in their bodies, where it swirls around their organs to perform its function. In Mosura, these cavities are called lacunae. They filled the creature's body, and extended into the swimming flaps that extended from each segment, visible as reflective patches in the fossils. "The well-preserved lacunae of the circulatory system in Mosura help us to interpret similar, but less clear features that we've seen before in other fossils. Their identity has been controversial," Moysiuk says. "It turns out that preservation of these structures is widespread, confirming the ancient origin of this type of circulatory system." As for its strange, powerful respiratory system at the rear end of its body, its specialized structure suggests Mosura may have had unique needs. Perhaps its habitat was different from that of other radiodonts, or maybe its hunting methods required enhanced respiratory functions. This is one of those questions that is impossible to answer without more information. However, Mosura is a beautiful example of the strategies life adopts to thrive according to circumstance. "Radiodonts were the first group of arthropods to branch out in the evolutionary tree, so they provide key insight into ancestral traits for the entire group," Caron says. "The new species emphasizes that these early arthropods were already surprisingly diverse and were adapting in a comparable way to their distant modern relatives." The research has been published in Royal Society Open Science. Earth's Rotation Is Slowing Down, And It Might Explain Why We Have Oxygen New Jersey Hawk Develops Clever Hunting Strategy Using Traffic Signals Your Sensitive Teeth May Exist So Ancient Fish Could Avoid Danger
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Three-eyed ancient predator ‘unlike any living animal' discovered
Scientists examining a rare fossil found in Canada's Burgess Shale have discovered a predator with three eyes that lived over 500 million years ago. The fossil species, named Mosura fentoni for resembling the fictional Japanese kaiju Mothra, was about the size of an index finger with three eyes, spiny jointed claws, a circular mouth lined with teeth, and a body with swimming flaps along its sides, researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum said. Mosura fentoni, also dubbed 'sea moth' due to its broad swimming flaps and narrow abdomen, was a member of an extinct group of animals called radiodonts, which included the meter-long marine predator Anomalocaris canadensis. It was, researchers said, 'unlike any living animal '. Mosura had a unique abdomen-like body region with multiple segments at its back end, according to a new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. 'This is a neat example of evolutionary convergence with modern groups like horseshoe crabs, woodlice, and insects, which share a batch of segments bearing respiratory organs at the rear of the body," study co-author Joe Moysiuk said. Scientists said it was not clear why Mosura had this unique body adaptation but suspected it could be related to a particular habitat preference requiring more efficient respiration. It was distantly related to modern moths and belonged to a deeper branch of arthropods including spiders, crabs and millipedes. "Radiodonts were the first group of arthropods to branch out in the evolutionary tree, so they provide key insight into ancestral traits for the entire group,' Jean-Bernard Caron, another author of the study, said. 'The new species emphasises these early arthropods were already surprisingly diverse and were adapting in a comparable way to their distant modern relatives.' Mosura did not have arteries and veins, but an "open" circulatory system that involved the heart pumping blood into large internal body cavities called lacunae. "The well-preserved lacunae of the circulatory system in Mosura help us to interpret similar, but less clear features that we've seen before in other fossils,' Dr Moysiuk said. The Burgess Shale fossil grounds in Canada 's Yoho and Kootenay National Parks are recognised as Unesco World Heritage Sites. 'Very few fossil sites in the world offer this level of insight into soft internal anatomy. We can see traces representing bundles of nerves in the eyes that would have been involved in image processing, just like in living arthropods,' Dr Caron said, adding that the 'details are astounding'.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Mosura fentoni: Scientists discover ancient sea predator that breathed through its bottom
Experts in Canada have discovered fossils of a 500-million-year-old predator that lived in the only that, it also possessed some rather, err, unusual had three eyes, spiny claws and scientists think it breathed through its... bottom!The discovery was made on the Burgess Shale - an important rock formation and fossil hotspot found in Canada's Rocky Mountains. What did scientists discover? Palaeontologists at the Manitoba Museum and Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) made the discovery, which was published in the Royal Society Open Science new find has been named Mosura fentoni and was about the size of an adult's index finger (around 8cm long). According to researchers, it had three eyes, spiny claws, a circular mouth lined with teeth and a body with swimming flaps along its say these features show it to be part of an extinct group of sea predators known as the it also had a feature not seen before - an abdomen-like body region made up of multiple segments at its back Moysiuk, Curator of Palaeontology and Geology at the Manitoba Museum, who led the study explained: "Mosura has 16 tightly packed segments lined with gills at the rear end of its body."He added that having respiratory organs at the back end of the body is similar to that found in modern radiodont relatives such as horseshoe crabs, woodlice and insects. Although it's not known exactly why this was the case, scientists think it could have allowed it to capture more oxygen from its environment, or to survive in lower-oxygen environments.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Science
- CTV News
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.
Gizmodo
13-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
506-Million-Year-Old ‘Mothra' Fossil Shows the Weirdness of Early Life
A newly described creature from the Cambrian period is putting a bizarre twist on what we thought we knew about early animal evolution. Meet Mosura fentoni—a three-eyed, clawed, and flappy-limbed predator about the size of your finger, recently identified from Canada's famed Burgess Shale. The alien-looking animal is part of a group called radiodonts, a now-extinct lineage of arthropods best known for Anomalocaris, a three-foot-long (one-meter-long) sea terror with spiny limbs and a circular mouth full of teeth. Like its cousins, Mosura had a similar feeding disk and paddle-like limbs for swimming. But it also had a strange surprise out back: a tail-like segment of 16 tightly packed body sections, each lined with gills. The Royal Society Open Science published the team's description of the creature today. 'As much as we learn about radiodonts, there always seems to be something new and surprising about this group around the corner,' said study lead author Joe Moysiuk, curator at the Manitoba Museum, in an email to Gizmodo. 'The 'abdomen' in Mosura is different in that its segments are small and they have only tiny flaps that would have been basically useless for propulsion.' The researchers aren't totally sure why Mosura needed this extra breathing real estate, but it could be related to how or where it lived—maybe hanging out in low-oxygen environments in the lively Cambrian seas, or leading an especially active lifestyle. Its unique shape, with broad swimming flaps and a slender abdomen, earned it the nickname 'sea-moth' from the researchers—hence the name Mosura, a nod to the Japanese kaiju Mothra. But despite its nickname, Mosura is only distantly related to moths. Mosura is part of a much more ancient lineage of arthropods—and though the radiodonts are long-gone, their remarkable preservation in the Burgess Shale is routinely yielding new species to science. Beyond its sci-fi looks, Mosura is also offering rare glimpses of internal anatomy from half a billion years ago. Some of the 61 fossils of the creature studied show preserved nerve tissue, eye structures, a digestive tract, and even reflective patches representing an open circulatory system—essentially a heart pumping blood into internal cavities called lacunae. Those same features, previously mysterious in other fossils, are evident in the team's Mosura specimens. The fossils, mostly collected by the Royal Ontario Museum over the last 50 years, came from Yoho and Kootenay National Parks—part of the Burgess Shale region. The region was part of the ancient seafloor and is known for its exceptional preservation of the soft-bodied organisms that called the seafloor home. Moysiuk has recently unearthed a couple of other creatures from the Cambrian Explosion, including Titanokorys gainesi in 2021 and Cambroraster falcatus, named for the Millennium Falcon, in 2019. 'So many science fiction creatures have been inspired by living organisms,' Moysiuk said. 'It seems only natural that scientists should take some inspiration in return.' 'There are loads of other possible inspirations for species names, but I do think there's a lot of potential with the 'Tremors' franchise,' Moysiuk added. 'The giant worms in that series are supposed to be relicts of the Precambrian, and although that makes no sense scientifically, it could make for a fun reference.' You heard it here first: As long as the creatures getting discovered keep looking as alien as Moysiuk's recent finds, no science fiction franchise is safe from becoming scientific nomenclature.
