Paleontologists working on the world-renowned Burgess Shale have revealed a new species named Mollisonia plenovenatrix, which they describe as the oldest member of a group of animals called chelicerates.
Paleontologists working on the world-renowned Burgess Shale have revealed a new species named Mollisonia plenovenatrix, which they describe as the oldest member of a group of animals called chelicerates. The discovery places the origin of this vast group of animals – over 115,000 species including horseshoe crabs, scorpions and spiders – to a time more than 500 million years ago, near the beginning of the Cambrian Period.
The findings were published this week in Nature.
Mollisonia plenovenatrix would have been a fierce predator – for its size. As big as a thumb, the creature boasted a pair of large egg-shaped eyes and a “multi-tool head” with long walking legs, as well as numerous pairs of limbs that could altogether sense, grasp, crush and chew.
But, most importantly, the new species also had a pair of tiny pincers in front of its mouth, called chelicerae. These appendages give rise to the name chelicerates and are used to kill, hold and, sometimes, cut their prey.
Continue reading at University of Toronto.
Image via Jean-Bernard Caron.
