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    Home > Food News > Food Articles > Rare Cambrian fossil reveals the complex structure of early comb jellyfish

    Rare Cambrian fossil reveals the complex structure of early comb jellyfish

    • Last Update: 2021-09-03
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Rare Cambrian fossil reveals the complex structure of early comb jellyfish
    Rare Cambrian fossil reveals the complex structure of early comb jellyfish Rare Cambrian fossil reveals the complex structure of early comb jellyfish

    Two new ctenophores artistic reconstruction
    .


    Photo Credit: Harvard University/Holly Sullivan

    The comb jelly is an invertebrate with a transparent gel-like body that looks like a jellyfish on the surface
    .


    In recent years, the phylogenetic position of comb jelly in the tree of animal life has attracted widespread attention


    Recently, in a study published in "Intersection Science", an international research team described two new fossils of comb jelly from the mid-Cambrian period in the western United States.
    One of the fossils preserved the nervous system, revealing the Early evolution of neural and sensory characteristics
    .

    Although comb jelly is important for understanding animal evolution, most of the information about comb jelly comes from existing species.
    Because the body of comb jelly is gelatinous, fossils are extremely rare

    In this study, the researchers described the first comb jellyfish fossil found in the United States and added two new species to the group
    .


    These 500 million-year-old fossils were discovered in the Marjum formation in House Range, Utah


    The first type of comb jelly fossil represents the bell-shaped comb jelly, which has a small bell-shaped body with up to 24 comb bones and a wavy mouth
    .


    In addition, the nervous system of this species has also been preserved


    The second species is called Thalassostaphylos elegans and has a rounder appearance with about 16 comb bones and a wavy mouth
    .


    Although this species does not have neurofossils, it has an important feature-there are two small spots on the top


    These two new species from Utah shed light on the evolution of the nervous system, sensory structure, and diversity of the Cambrian comb jelly
    .


    The researchers concluded that the Cambrian comb jelly's nervous system was much more complicated than what is observed today


    Related paper information: https://doi.


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