Yawunik kootenayi (Photo : Reuters)
A lobster-like ancient species that is 508 million years old has been discovered by the University of Toronto. This creature was found flowing the territorial waters of Canada, 250 million years prior to the existence of dinosaurs, Clapway revealed.
The newly-found species, which is now being referred to as the Yawunik kootenayi, appear to bear a few evolutionary connections with the modern days' spiders and butterflies. Scientists found this fossil in a store called Canadian Burgess Shale, located in the Alberta, B.C. border, a fossil-rich area which has become a popular site of many different scientific findings, recently. Originally, the fossil was from the Marble Canyon site in the northern end of the Kootenay National Park within the Canadian Rockies.
Experts have believed that Yawunik had three long hooks growing from its front- a characteristic that resembles that of a shrimp. Two of its claws, on the other hand, displayed restricting teeth that are believed to have developed to help the creature in catching and hunting prey.
Aria, the lead author of the study, included that while it does not display a few of the most developed qualities of a modern arthropod, it still is a member of the family because of the presence of its jointed extremities, outer skeleton, and divided body.
The lead author said, "Unlike insects or crustaceans, Yawunik did not possess additional appendages in the head that were specifically modified to process food. Evolution resulted here in a combination of adaptations onto the front-most appendage of this creature, maybe because such modifications were easier to acquire," Phys.org reported.
