Most people get the ick from worms. These small, slimy creatures are no one’s favourite. But what if they were as big as a cat? In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have unearthed the fossils of a previously unknown group of animal predators. The fossils have been discovered in North Greenland’s Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality.
Named Timorebestia, meaning ‘terror beasts’ in Latin, these large creatures may represent some of the earliest carnivorous animals to inhabit the water more than 518 million years ago. The discovery sheds light on a previously unknown dynasty of predators.
Timorebestia
Timorebestia, as per the paper published in Science Advances reached lengths of over 30cm. The giant worm sported fins along its body, had a distinctive head with long antennae, and formidable jaw structures inside its mouths.
These features, coupled with their swimming prowess, made them one of the largest predators in the Early Cambrian era, about half a billion years ago.
Highlighting the significance of this discovery, senior author Dr Jakob Vinther from the University of Bristol said, “Timorebestia were giants of their day and would have been close to the top of the food chain. That makes it equivalent in importance to some of the top carnivores in modern oceans, such as sharks and seals back in the Cambrian period.”
The Timorebestia is a close relative of arrow worms, minuscule predators of today, primarily feeding on tiny zooplankton.
The researchers found remnants of a common, swimming arthropod called Isoxys inside the fossilized digestive system of Timorebestia.
Isoxys, equipped with long protective spines, were a staple in the diet of Timorebestia, further emphasising their role at the top of the food chain.
“They are very common at Sirius Passet and had long protective spines, pointing both forwards and backwards. However, they clearly didn’t completely succeed in avoiding that fate, because Timorebestia munched on them in great quantities,” said Morten Lunde Nielsen, a former Ph.D. student at Bristol.
As per the University of Bristol website, this groundbreaking find provides crucial insights into the evolution of jawed predators and their connections to ancient organisms.
“Timorebestia is a really significant find for understanding the evolution of arrow worms. “Today, arrow worms have menacing bristles on the outside of their heads for catching prey, whereas Timorebestia has jaws inside its head,” said Luke Parry from Oxford University.
The fossils discovered in Sirius Passet offer remarkable preservation, revealing anatomical details of the digestive system, muscle anatomy, and nervous systems of these ancient creatures, said Tae Yoon Park from the Korean Polar Research Institute, the other senior author and field expedition leader.
“We have found this preserved in Timorebestia and another fossil called Amiskwia. People have debated whether or not Amiskwia was closely related to arrow worms as part of their evolutionary stem lineage. The preservation of these unique ventral ganglia gives us a great deal more confidence in this hypothesis,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
