It is approximately half a billion years old...the discovery of a marine animal older than dinosaurs
The Ontario Museum displays an exceptionally preserved ancient animal, 450 million years old, that was discovered and found in southern Ontario, Canada.
The website “THE STAR” pointed out that the newly discovered marine animal fossil, which is approximately half a billion years old, even predates the dinosaurs that first appeared about 240 million years ago.
It was found near Brechin in southern Ontario and is approximately half a billion years old. This discovery was announced last March 24, in the Journal of Paleontology.
The researchers say that the new species, Tomlinsonus dimitrii, is part of an extinct group of arthropods and is “exceptionally well preserved,” as only the solid parts of the organism are fossilized (bones and shells).
“We did not expect to find soft-bodied species at this site,” said lead author of the study, University of Toronto researcher and evolutionary biologist Joseph Moyciuk.
“When we think of fossils, we usually think of things like dinosaur bones and shells,” Moyciuk continued. However, soft tissue preservation is very rare. “There are only a few locations around the world where soft-bodied organisms have been found.”
The discovered strange animal appears to measure 2 inches (6 centimeters), the length of an index finger. The specimen is characterized by an ornate head shield containing two curved horns covered with feather-like spines.
The magazine “LiveScience” also published an article on this subject, under the title (What has no eyes, walked on stilts and died in “Paleo Pompeii”? This is the ancient weirdo).
The animal's segmented body resembles that of other arthropods, such as insects and spiders, and in addition contains multiple sets of segmented limbs, including one pair of very strange limbs.
Source: thestar, livescience