European Knight
06-30-2015, 08:37 AM
30-Legged Prehistoric Worm Among First to Sport Spikes
A spiky, wormlike creature with 30 legs — 18 clawed rear legs and 12 featherlike front legs that likely helped it filter food from the water — once lived in the ancient oceans of the early Cambrian period, about 518 million years ago, a new study finds.
The critter is one of the first known animals on Earth to develop protective armor and to sport specialized limbs that likely helped it catch food, the researchers said.
"It's a bit of a large animal for this time period," said one of the study's lead researchers, Javier Ortega-Hernández, a research fellow in paleobiology at the University of Cambridge. "The largest specimen is just under 10 centimeters
[4 nches], which, for a wormy thing, is quite mighty."
The creature likely used its rear clawed legs to anchor to sponges or other penetrable surfaces, and waved its feathery front limbs to and fro in the current to catch nutrients in the water, Ortega-Hernández said.
30-Legged Prehistoric Worm Among First to Sport Spikes - NBC News (http://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/30-legged-prehistoric-worm-among-first-sport-spikes-n384096)
http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_27/1099376/collinsium_fossil_cambrian_a16a67d205897d3d9d05d30 4f0289669.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg
http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_27/1099371/collinsium-ciliosum-drawing_30ee417accf1d6fea3b4d18ec7e205d3.nbcnews-ux-600-700.jpg
A spiky, wormlike creature with 30 legs — 18 clawed rear legs and 12 featherlike front legs that likely helped it filter food from the water — once lived in the ancient oceans of the early Cambrian period, about 518 million years ago, a new study finds.
The critter is one of the first known animals on Earth to develop protective armor and to sport specialized limbs that likely helped it catch food, the researchers said.
"It's a bit of a large animal for this time period," said one of the study's lead researchers, Javier Ortega-Hernández, a research fellow in paleobiology at the University of Cambridge. "The largest specimen is just under 10 centimeters
[4 nches], which, for a wormy thing, is quite mighty."
The creature likely used its rear clawed legs to anchor to sponges or other penetrable surfaces, and waved its feathery front limbs to and fro in the current to catch nutrients in the water, Ortega-Hernández said.
30-Legged Prehistoric Worm Among First to Sport Spikes - NBC News (http://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/30-legged-prehistoric-worm-among-first-sport-spikes-n384096)
http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_27/1099376/collinsium_fossil_cambrian_a16a67d205897d3d9d05d30 4f0289669.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg
http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_27/1099371/collinsium-ciliosum-drawing_30ee417accf1d6fea3b4d18ec7e205d3.nbcnews-ux-600-700.jpg