In a fossil bed dating back to 505 million year old, something really and truly special was discovered.
The incredibly fine silt from a lagerstättePaleontologists have discovered more than 170 fossils of ancient jellies that lived in Earth’s oceans hundreds of millions of year before the dinosaurs. The first dinosaurs to walk its soil.
This find is amazing because soft tissue is rarely preserved in fossil records, but these were so beautifully preserved that even anatomical detail, like the little jelly tentacles are visible. This new species was discovered in the fossil record. BurgessomedusaThe oldest jellyfish known on Earth is now.
“Jellyfish and their relatives, although thought to be among the first animal groups to evolve, have been remarkably difficult to pin down in Cambrian records,” says paleontologist Joe MoysiukThe University of Toronto in Canada and the Royal Ontario Museum.
The discovery is a clear indication that the animals were actively swimming at the time.
The majority of fossils we have are hard bone fragments that can better survive different fossilization processes. Soft tissue degrades much faster and is therefore less preserved. If it will be retained at all, a type of fossil bed called a lagerstätte is the place to look.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. Burgess Shale in Canada is a famous lagerstätte that has preserved many soft animals from the Cambrian period. Once, the silty bed of a large body of water contained animals. As time and pressure worked, they preserved them with their soft tissues.
Jellyfish is a phylum. CnidariaSince they are soft tissues, we don’t anticipate them being preserved often or at all. Cnidarians can be preserved. Cnidarians are not unknown. Polyp variety – those that are anchored to rocks – In fossil beds, you can find fossilsDating back to 560 millions of years ago.
The polyps is the Early life stageSome polyps are similar to jellies but not all. Stay polyps. Scientists believe that, evolutionarily, polyps came first and later transitioned into free-swimming creatures – Cnidarians of the medusa variety, otherwise known as jellyfish.
The fossil record was lacking in medusae, which made it difficult to determine the change. Some fossils that were thought to be jellies were later classified into comb jellies and belong to a completely different phylum. Ctenophora.
The discovery of BurgessomedusaIt provides a new base for calculating the timelines of jellyfish evolution. The study also highlights the diverse marine ecosystems of the Cambrian period, which appear to be dominated by Hard-shelled CreaturesThese are better preserved as fossils. The animals would have been more complex and diverse, including a variety of predators.
Finding such delicate animals preserved within rock layers atop these mountains was a wonderful discovery. says paleontologist Jean-Bernard CaronThe Royal Ontario Museum
“BurgessomedusaThe Cambrian Food Web is complex, and this adds to its complexity. AnomalocarisThese jellyfish, which shared the same habitat, were effective swimming predators. “The Burgess Shale preserves yet another amazing lineage, chronicling evolution on Earth.”
The research was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences.
