Evolution: giant aquatic arthropods 470 mya (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 17:25 (710 days ago) @ David Turell

Just discovered in Morocco:

https://phys.org/news/2022-12-fossil-site-reveals-giant-arthropods.html

"Discoveries at a major new fossil site in Morocco suggest giant arthropods—relatives of modern creatures including shrimps, insects and spiders—dominated the seas 470 million years ago.

"Early evidence from the site at Taichoute, once undersea but now a desert, records numerous large "free-swimming" arthropods.

"More research is needed to analyse these fragments, but based on previously described specimens, the giant arthropods could be up to 2m long.

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"Dr. Xiaoya Ma, from the University of Exeter and Yunnan University, added: "While the giant arthropods we discovered have not yet been fully identified, some may belong to previously described species of the Fezouata Biota, and some will certainly be new species.

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"Fossils discovered in these rocks include mineralised elements (eg shells), but some also show exceptional preservation of soft parts such as internal organs, allowing scientists to investigate the anatomy of early animal life on Earth.

"Animals of the Fezouata Shale, in Morocco's Zagora region, lived in a shallow sea that experienced repeated storm and wave activities, which buried the animal communities and preserved them in place as exceptional fossils.

"However, nektonic (or free-swimming) animals remain a relatively minor component overall in the Fezouata Biota.

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"'Even when it comes to trilobites, new species so far unknown from the Fezouata Biota are found in Taichoute.'"

Comment: this new find fits dhw's theory that there is much new that we will find. I agree. The Cambrian gap is here to stay, I believe