Five hundred million years ago , tacos existed . But they were n’t corn or flour ; they were the hard - shelled covering on a now - extinct sea fauna , Odaraia alata .
According to Modern research , the Cambrian creature was a mandibulate , a mathematical group of jawed arthropod . But add to its exoticism , Odaraiaswam upside - down and had spines along its 30 pairs of legs , which may have been used to ensnare prey throughout the water column . The team ’s analysis ofOdaraiawas published today inProceedings of the Royal Society B.
“ We were not the first ones to think that [ Odaraia]swam upside - down , ” said Alejandro Izquierdo - López , a paleontologist at the University of Toronto and lead source of the paper , in an e-mail to Gizmodo . “ We now guess that this surmisal aligns with our new discovery ; thatOdaraiawas get food from the water pillar using its spiny legs . ”
An illustration of the taco-shaped Odaraia.Image: Danielle Dufault/Royal Ontario Museum
The creature was witness in the Burgess Shale , a swathe of rock-and-roll in westerly North America that was part of the ancient seafloor during the Welsh Period , some half a billion years ago . The Burgess Shale preserve touchy part of ancient animals , like soft tissue , giving paleontologists a remarkably accurate and sharp view of ancient life . For the recent study , the squad examined about 150 specimens of the greaser - shelledOdaraia , which amounts to about half of all the known specimens .
“ We do n’t think [ the shell ] was very flexible , but not very hard , either , ” Izquierdo - López said . “ Probably somewhat like the runt or prawn you may get in the supermarket . ”
The Cambrian seas were satiate with foreign creatures by today ’s banner . From about 570 million years to 530 million years ago , the worlds ’ oceans boomed with life , a period roll in the hay asthe Cambrian Explosion .
Many Cambrian puppet are now preserved in the Burgess Shale , including the 8 - inch ( 20 - centimeter)Odaraia . In 2021 , a team of researcher announce the discovery of anabsolute unit calledT. gainesi ; in 2019 , another shelled creature was list forits resemblance to Han Solo ’s Millennium Falcon .
“ The Burgess Shale has been a treasure treasure trove of palaeontological selective information , ” say Jean - Bernard Caron , a fossilist at Canada ’s Royal Ontario Museum , and Colorado - writer of the work , in a museumrelease . “ Thanks to the workplace we have been doing at the fixed storage on awesome fossil animate being such asTokummiaandWaptia , we already know a substantive amount about the early development of mandibulates . However , some other specie had remained quite oracular , likeOdaraia . ”
Besides the mandibles , the enquiry team was capable to analyze the fauna ’s legs and pricker in detail . The team state that the first animals with lower jaw may have used their spines to get prey , helping them make the move from bottom feeding to eking out existence throughout the water tower .
The Burgess Shale almost certainly holds more critters that will let on the breathtaking diversity of Cambrian life . But as the recent study shows , there are also plenty of details that stay to be constitute in existing specimen .
AnimalsArthropodsCambrian explosion
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