The creature — that looks like a worm with a spiky exterior — had 11 lobopods (or appendages), with claws at the end
An alien-like creature with protruding spikes that lived more than 500 million years ago was discovered in British Columbia.
The lobopodian, named Entothyreos synnaustrus, was found in an area of Yoho National Park called the Tulip Beds in the Burgess Shale. There have been 10,000 specimens collected from the area since its discovery by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in 1983.
The creature — that looks like a worm with a spiky exterior — had 11 lobopods (or appendages), with claws at the end. It measured only 5 centimetres.
The anterior six lobopods had a “dense array of small spines,” according to the study. Its anterior limbs were used for suspension-feeding and its “stout” posterior limbs were used to anchor itself in place, the study said. Its back appendages “likely served a protective function,” according to researchers.
“The discovery of Entothyreos synnaustrus suggests that the evolution of arthropod-like features, such as segmented and hardened body parts, may have emerged in parallel among the ancestors of arthropods. This broadens our understanding of how major anatomical innovations can arise in the history of life.”
Arthropods are invertebrates with exoskeletons, like lobsters, crabs and spiders.
“The Burgess Shale, at 505 million years old, records the tail end of the event,” according to the ROM.
“The fundamental ecological structure of modern marine communities was firmly established during the Cambrian. By the end of the period, some animals had also made the first temporary forays onto land, soon to be followed by plants.”
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