Known for its eccentric appearance, the Cambrian royal Obabin sea scorpion has five eyes and a mouth facing backwards, and what should have been a nose has been replaced by a long snout with claws at the end. This ancient sea creature was like an alien visitor, and it wasn't until more than 100 years after its discovery that scientists found a similar species.
The Utaurora Comosa is a small, spiky sea creature with a spiky tail that appeared millions of years later than the royal Obabin sea scorpion and lived in the area of present-day North America. Scientists first described U. in 2008comosa, it is classified as a relative of the odd shrimp, which is a terrifying appearance with claws on its face, and is the apex predator that once dominated the Cambrian seas. However, a new study shows that uComosa may have mistaken a relative. The researchers re-examined the world's only currently unique U.SComosa fossils and comparing them with more than 50 extant or extinct animal specimens, and finally came to the conclusion - UThere is a high probability that Comosa is a relative of the royal Obabin Sea Scorpion, not the Odd Shrimp. This makes u.Comosa became the second species of the group to which the royal Obabin sea scorpion belongs.
In 54.1 billion 48.5 billion years ago, the Earth's oceans first exploded into a large number of species. This event is known as the "Cambrian Explosion" and was the first appearance of all major fauna in the oceans today. This species explosion also gave birth to the world's first truly apex predators.
These carnivorous animals get their name from the round, serrated beaks under their heads, hence the name "radiated teeth". Many of their members, including the famous prawns, also have claw-like appendages at the front of their heads, allowing them to grasp unsuspecting prey and send them into their mouths.
It was found in the Cambrian Wheeler Formation in Utah, USAThe comosa fossil does not have such appendages. It 2The 5-centimeter-long body is divided into 14 15 segments, each with a pointed swimming lobe at each end, similar to the royal Obabin sea scorpion. Still, scientists initially put U.comosa is classified as a radial tooth. But now, the more they researched, the more they realized that it was almost impossible to find any radiodont features in this animal. Paleontologist Stephen Pates said: "This shows that the royal Obabin scorpion is not the only Obabin scorpion, it also has its own relatives. ”