New cambrian fossil? sweet.

Nobel Intent, you're my only friend

Well, not really, i have other databases that i manifest as friendships. >.>



















This cute little critter, said to connect mollusks, annelids, and brachiopods, Should be published today in science. [damn you time zones!]

From Nobel intent:

"this portrayal relies on gaps in our understanding, and gaps in science have a habit of getting filled. One more will be filled by the description of the fossil on the right, which will appear in tomorrow's edition of Science. The newly described creature, termed Orthrozanclus reburrus, shares features with the ancestors of three major groups that are alive today: molluscs (such as clams and squid), annelids (segmented worms), and brachiopods, a type of shellfish that is only distantly related to molluscs. That distant relative appears to have been something very much like this new species.

More specifically, this creature has a long, thick plate with a segmented, convex anterior shell, much like the Halkieria, which gave rise to the brachiopods. But the lateral edges of that plate contain a set of spines with features similar to those found found in Wiwaxiids, which produced the modern annelids. The authors propose a new clade, the Halwaxiids, which encompasses these two previously separate phylogenetic groups. In addition to this pivotal location, the new fossil shares common features with the ancestors of molluscs, which suggests that this creature may be on the branch that led to that lineage.

This new fossil greatly clarifies the phylogenetic tree that describes the origin of these three modern groups, as it suggests the features that a common ancestor of all three should share. Those features appear in a group of fossils called Kimberella-Odontogriphus which previously had been difficult to place relative to other lineages; thanks to the new fossil, they appear to be at their base of all three branches."

Still no fossil rabbits though. ^^

An interesting find, no doubt about it, But already some of my fossil headed friends are hearing rumbles that Morris may be exaggerating his claims. Maybe he is, maybe he is not. Either way, we get one beautiful specimen of Precambrian life out of the bargain.