An ancient biological fossil resembling a millipede was unearthed in Scotland, UK. It may be the oldest known land animal that lived 425 million years ago.
Reuters reported on May 30 that this fossil was unearthed on a small island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The study report was published in the journal “Xue”.
The fossil shows that this worm-like paleontology called Kampacaris obanensis is an arthropod with a body length of 2.5 cm and a segmented body. Its feet have not been preserved in fossils in. The researchers analyzed that it should live in a lakeside environment and may feed on decaying plants. Although it looks like a millipede, this ancient creature belongs to another extinct population, not the ancestor of the millipede.
Michael Brookfield, lead author of the research report and paleontologist at the University of Texas, said that this kind of paleontology is the oldest terrestrial animal among the fossils unearthed, but before it There should be an older mudworm.
In the Early Cambrian 540 million years ago, the largest and most influential biological innovation event occurred in the history of the evolution of life on earth. In less than 1% of the life history of the earth, more than 90% of animal categories were quickly created.
(original title: similar to the millipede creature or the earliest terrestrial animal)