Scientists and researchers have never stopped doing their job. Almost
everyday, new species of creatures, believed to have lived millions and
millions of years ago, are discovered. And with this new discovery,
another family of sea monsters was introduced.
According
to study co-author Jakob Vinther (a paleobiologist at the University of
Bristol in England), this kind of species labeled as Tamisiocaris
borealis used huge and prickly appendages on its body to search the seas
for tiny shrimplike food almost identical to krill.
The fossil of the new creature was found in sediments known as the Sirius Passet formation.
A
team of researchers have been digging up at the site. They can only
conduct the excavation during a six-week period of summer, when the
weather is accommodating.
During
an excavation trip in 2009, the team has also uncovered fragments of
strange feeding appendages affixed to a head shield from an unknown
creature. The appendages (dates to about 520 million years ago) has been
said to have belonged to a group known as anomalocarids, the greatest
predators of their day.
Tamisiocaris
borealis is believed to have likely evolved these ancient sea monsters
but with appendages different from other anomalocarids. Instead of large
grasping claws, the front pieces were fine, soft bristles, which are
much like the baleen found in the mouths of filter-feeding whales.
The description of T. borealis was reported on March 26 in the journal Nature.
