Spiders, crabs, and other arthropods evolved from a group of animals that underwent a burst of diversity around 500 million years ago. One fossil site provides an extraordinary glimpse into these ancient lifeforms.
The Canadian Rockies are a candy store for paleontologists—myriad perfectly preserved fossils continue to be unearthed in the Burgess Shale deposits. Among these were the fossils of a curious creature discovered in 2019 that had an unusual spaceship-like exoskeleton. This earned it the nickname “Millennium Falcon,” a nod to theIt was a discovery that highlights the incredible diversity of life half a billion years ago, among the ancestors of modern-day arthropods.
Both creatures were radiodonts, early arthropods that featured Swiss Army knife-like appendages near the head. These were likely used for locomotion and for sifting through ocean sediment for smaller food items, much like many of today’s crustaceans.Over the millennia, these appendages evolved into specialized limbs seen in modern crustaceans and arachnids.
These conditions created a unique snapshot of Cambrian life, revealing the strange and diverse creatures that flourished during this evolutionary explosion.Its head is nearly indistinguishable from its tail, and the seven to eight spindly legs attached to the worm-like body almost mirror the spikes alternating on its back. It is thought to be an early ancestor of velvet worms of today....
© David A. T. Harper, Emma U. Hammarlund, Timothy P. Topper, Arne T. Nielsen, Jan A. Rasmussen, Tae-Yoon S. Park and M. Paul Smith via Wikimedia Commons
Cambroraster Falcatus Spaceship Like Creature Bizarre Looking Creatures Cambrian Explosion Cambrian Radiation Canadian Rockies Burgess Shale Fossil Beds Mount Wapta Canada Crabs Cambroraster
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