“Newly Discovered Ancient ‘Terror Beasts’ Shed Light on Early Predatory Worms”
A groundbreaking discovery has been made in North Greenland, as ancient predatory worms dating back around 518 million years have been uncovered in the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte. Named “Timorebestia”, Latin for “terror beasts”, these new-to-science animals offer new insights into a peculiar group of predatory worms that are still living today.
The newly discovered creatures, known as “Fearbeast koprii”, were found to be massive compared to their modern counterparts. While today’s arrowworms, also known as chaetognaths, only range from about 3 to 100 millimeters in size, the “Fearbeast koprii” were around 30 centimeters in length.
This finding suggests that the giant terror worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have hunted in the water column during the Early Cambrian period. With their long antennae and impressive jaws inside their heads, they were quite different from modern arrowworms.
The creatures’ predatory prowess was evidenced by the remains of other animals found in their fossilized digestive systems. It appears that their main food source was the unlucky “Isoxys”, a common swimming arthropod at the time.
Dr. Jakob Vinther, the senior study author from the University of Bristol, explained, “Our research shows that these ancient ocean ecosystems were fairly complex with a food chain that allowed for several tiers of predators. ‘Timorebestia’ were giants of their day and would have been close to the top of the food chain.”
The team used an electron microprobe to map the carbon in the fossils, revealing anatomical details such as fin rays and muscle systems. This exceptional preservation in Sirius Passet has provided scientists with exciting new insights into early animal ecosystems and evolution.
The study, published in Science Advances, has opened up a new chapter in our understanding of ancient marine predators and the earliest animal ecosystems. As new findings continue to emerge from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, researchers are eager to further explore and uncover the mysteries of the Earth’s distant past.