This 480 million-year-old creature is the ancestor of all starfish
A strange little fossil may represent the ancestor of all starfish-like animals on the planet, according to a new study. The 480 million-year-old fossil was unearthed in the Moroccan desert more than 17 years ago, but its identity and evolutionary history remained mysteries until now. Scientists have now formally described the specimen in new research […]
500 million-year-old creature with mashup of bizarre features could be arthropod ‘missing link’
A shrimp-like animal that paddled around the ocean hundreds of millions of years ago peered through the water with five eyes mounted on stalks. But that wasn’t even the weirdest thing about it, researchers recently discovered. Those stalks supported compound eyes, mounted on a semi-circular fused head shield; the tiny sea beast also had an […]
24 million-year-old nursery for baby megasharks discovered in South Carolina
About 24 million years ago, baby shark ancestors of the giant beast called megalodon needed a place to grow big before heading into the open ocean, so they swam around a coastal spot replete with easy-to-catch prey — a nursery in what is now South Carolina, according to new research. Until now, scientists knew of […]
