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Bizarre Cambrian Echinoderms Finally Identified

EnolaGaia

I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
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It would appear paleontologists have finally figured out how to interpret one of the stranger Cambrian era creatures. How strange? Well, here's an artist's conception based on many fossil specimens ...

Stylophoran.jpg


480-Million-Year-Old Mystery Creature Finally Identified from Its Preserved Guts
For the past 150 years, scientists have hotly debated a mysterious creature that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, long before dinosaurs walked the Earth. And now, with the discovery of stunningly detailed fossils in Morocco, paleontologists have finally ID'd the bizarre life-forms.

The creatures, known as stylophorans, looked like flattened and armored wall decorations that had a long arm poking off their sides. But while it was previously unclear where they fit in the animal family tree, the new study revealed that they are echinoderms, the ancient relatives of modern animals such as sea urchins, starfish, brittle stars, sea lilies, feather stars and sea cucumbers.

The finding was made possible thanks to fossils with "unequivocal evidence for exceptionally preserved soft parts, both in the appendage and in the body of stylophorans," said study lead researcher Bertrand Lefebvre, a National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) researcher at the Laboratory of Geology of Lyon in France. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/64832-ancient-starfish-relative-mystery-solved.html
 
That is just weird.
 
How weird is it that it doesn't have body symmetry?
Edited to note that only part of it's body is asymmetric.
 
How weird is it that it doesn't have body symmetry?
Edited to note that only part of it's body is asymmetric.
I thought that too, though when I re-read it, it does say that it's an artist's rendition and the depth of the drawing is difficult to figure out. In the link to the full story, there is a pic of the fossil and it looks much more symmetrical.
 
I thought that too, though when I re-read it, it does say that it's an artist's rendition and the depth of the drawing is difficult to figure out. In the link to the full story, there is a pic of the fossil and it looks much more symmetrical.

The fossil pictured in the article is just one of many. On balance, the multiple fossil specimens support the more asymmetrical format.

As I understand it, the asymmetry was cause for initial skepticism about the organism's true form, and this contributed to the mystery surrounding these fossil organisms until a much larger set of specimens was discovered in Morocco. This broader sample apparently confirms the asymmetrical early exemplars weren't atypical.
 
Just as an aside, as soon as I saw that someone else assumed that the animal should appear symmetrical, I questioned why I had made the same assumption.
 
Just as an aside, as soon as I saw that someone else assumed that the animal should appear symmetrical, I questioned why I had made the same assumption.

Ha Ha! I also questioned why I assumed it should be symmetrical as well. I guess so many animals are symmetrical, that it struck me as odd. Then I was thinking it was possibly like that from growing into/onto rocks. I was also reminding myself that the farther back you go, the stranger the forms become and you can't even tell which end is which. I live close to the Burgess shale, and many of those fossils aren't even able to be classified as plant or animal yet. They may be a little of both.

Enola, I did know that symmetry is mostly approximate, but really couldn't bring to mind anything other than a crossbill (bird) that had noticeable asymmetry, as the crabs and snails had skipped my mind.

I guess what is so weird about this thing is that it's body that is asymmetrical, not it's appendages.
 
Most of the fossils I've seen usually have some degree of symmetry.
Where extreme asymmetry is found, it's usually because of some specific adaptation. Like the crab that has one claw much bigger than the other for attracting a mate.
 
It would appear paleontologists have finally figured out how to interpret one of the stranger Cambrian era creatures. How strange? Well, here's an artist's conception based on many fossil specimens ...





FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/64832-ancient-starfish-relative-mystery-solved.html

God; give it a spinal column

Angels; great, done.

God; but no body.

Angels; erm..

God; but a big head.

Angels; like, big and round, or...

God; no. flat. a really flat head.

Angels; but what about its eyes?

God; no eyes. and no mouth.

Angels; so is this a bit like the snakes...

God; no not the snakes. I want limbs.

Angels; arms and legs?

God; just arms. no wait, tentacles. no hang on, something in between. And coming out of its head.

Angels; oookkkaaayyyyy. A tail then?

God; No tail. How does it look?

Angels; stupid.

God; excellent. Do it.
 
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