Scientists have discovered a small three -eyed predator called Mosura Fentoni. Nicknamed the “Sea Moth”, the orphan lived in the ocean about 506 million years ago.
The new study was published on 13 May in the Journal Royal Society Open Science.
It belonged to an old group of marine animals called Radiodonts, which are related to contemporary insects, spiders and crabs. Fossils show that it had a unique part of the body with 16 segments and gills, so that it can breathe better.
This function is similar to parts that can be seen in modern animals such as horseshoe crabs and Woodlice. Experts believe that Mosura Fentoni evolved in a way like these modern beings. The discovery shows that old marine animals were already very diverse.
“The new species emphasizes that these early arthropods were already surprisingly diverse and adapted in a similar way as their distant modern family members,” CNN study quoted co-author Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron.
No animal looks like Mosura Fentoni
No living animal nowadays looks completely like Mosura Fentoni. It had connected claws such as insects or crabs. It also had a big third eye in the middle of his head.
Mosura probably swam like a stingray, using flaps to slide under water. The mouth looked like a pencil grinder, covered with sharp plates.
“Although not closely related, Mosura probably swam in a similar way like a jet, where he swim his several sets up and down, such as underwater flying,” said Dr. Joe Moysiuk, curator of Paleontology and geology in the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg.
“It also had a mouth in the form of a pencil grinder and covered with rows of serrated plates, unlike every living animal,” he added.
Around the size of a human finger, it reminded scientists of a moth, so they called it a “sea mot”. The forked claws were unusual, possibly used to grab small prey and move to the sharp mouth.
“It is a bit of a puzzle how it was to use it to catch prey, but we think it may have seized smaller animals with the ends of the spines and passed them to the mouth,” said Moysiuk.
Mosura lived next to small worms and shellfish that it may have eaten. Mosura itself is perhaps hunted by larger marine animals such as the jellyfish.
Ocean life millions of years ago
Experts say that this discovery gives more indications about how the ocean life worked millions of years ago. Interesting is that Mosura had an unusually trunky body part. It was different from what is usually seen in comparable beings.
This function can help scientists understand how these marine animals have evolved from simple, worm -like bodies to more complex forms.
