The ancestor of three living animal lineages has been remarkably preserved in a rock in China, maintaining astonishingly intact features.
According to Sci-News, the Wufengella bengtsoni, a small creature resembling an armored mace with numerous spiny projections surrounding it, is an extinct worm that lived during the Cambrian period.
This organism inhabited what is now China around 518 million years ago and belongs to a group of ancient creatures known as tommotiids. Despite its small size of only 1.3 cm, it is considered the “great ancestor” of three major groups of organisms that are now widespread across the Earth.
The natural “relief” on a rock in China provides incredible value to paleontology – (Photo: Current Biology)
“It looks like a bizarre hybrid between a furry caterpillar and a mollusk. Interestingly, it does not belong to either group,” described Dr. Jakob Vinther from the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, a member of the multinational research team.
The remarkably well-preserved specimen of this previously unknown species, excavated in China, even helped scientists recognize the tiny flat lobes protruding from both sides of its shell, which are where the bristles attach. Many lobes, bristles, and shell plates on the back provide evidence that this worm was initially segmented, similar to a modern earthworm.
The animal kingdom includes over 30 primary body plans, each containing a unique set of features that distinguish them from one another.
This organism exhibits several characteristics shared with many of the aforementioned groups, demonstrating the rapid pace of evolution, in which it stands as one of the originators, a common ancestor of many species.
Reconstructed portrait of the small monster – (Photo: Current Biology).
It also possesses characteristics that prove it is the ancestor of the Lophophorata, a common group that includes horseshoe worms and tiny moss animals that are prevalent in the oceans.
This half-billion-year-old worm is also an ancestor of the phylum Brachiopods, a group of organisms that resemble clams, living attached to the seabed and coral reefs.
Its third descendant group is even more famous – the arthropods. “For a long time, biologists have noted that arthropods have many paired body cavities, unique kidney structures, and bristles on their backs as larvae,” Dr. Vinther added.
Arthropods, also known as arthropods, include more than 1 million different species, ranging from tiny mites to various insects, and are one of the most diverse groups on Earth. The connection of their ancestors to these bizarre marine organisms is truly astonishing.
Thus, this precious fossil has become a rare and surprising piece, helping to fill an important gap in the evolutionary tree of life on Earth.
The research was recently published in the scientific journal Current Biology.
