Monday 21 January 2013

New insights into anatomy of ancient tentacled creature


Experts thought that Cotyledion tylodes may have belonged to the jellyfish-like cnidarian group.

But new anatomical evidence from the animal's fossilised remains suggests the species was an early member of the group of small marine organisms called entoprocts.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Results of the study, by an international research team, suggest that entoprocts appeared earlier than previously thought.

Entoprocts are small organisms that feed by straining food particles from water.

Scientists analysed hundreds of Cotyledion tylodes fossils preserved in the Chengjiang fossil site in Yunnan province, China, dating from the Cambrian geological period (545 to 495 million years ago).

To date, the only uncontested fossil entoproct comes from the Jurassic (205 to 142 million years ago).

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