According to a study published this Wednesday in the Royal Society Open Science, scientists have discovered a giant prehistoric horseshoe crab in the Burgess Shale, 500 million years old, in Canada. The creature is believed to have been one of the largest of its time, surpassing other prehistoric crabs discovered earlier.
Paleontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum named the new species Titanokorys gainesi and dated it to the Cambrian period, part of an era between 541 and 485.4 million years ago that produced the most intense eruption that had never been seen. Although most organisms living in the ocean in the period were no larger than a pink finger, the Titanokorys were over half a meter long.
“The size of this animal is absolutely mind-boggling, it’s one of the largest animals of the Cambrian period ever found,” said Jean-Bernard Caron, the museum’s invertebrate paleontology curator Richard M. Ivey and professor associate of ecology and evolution. Earth biology and science at the University of Toronto said in a press release.
Royal Ontario Museum
Both the Titanokorys and the Anomalocaris were radiodonts, which were primitive arthropods with “multifaceted eyes, a slice of pineapple-shaped mouth, lined with teeth, a pair of prickly claws under the head to catch prey, and a body with a series of flaps for swimming, “according to the press release.
“These enigmatic animals certainly had a big impact on the ecosystems of the Cambrian seabed. Their limbs on the front looked like multiple rakes stacked and would have been very efficient in bringing to the mouth everything they caught in their little thorns, ”Caron added.
Some species of radiodonts also had large bigheads (or defensive shells) and Titanokorys has one of the largest encounters ever. Unfortunately, scientists don’t quite understand why some radiodonts have “such a baffling set” of carapace sizes and shapes, but Titanokorys’ wide, flat head was probably designed to help him feed to the bottom of the sea. ocean.
Royal Ontario Museum
“The head is so long in relation to the body that these animals are really little more than swimming heads,” said Joe Moysiuk, co-author of the study and a doctoral student based at the museum. student in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto, according to the statement.
The Burgess Shale, located in Kootenay Canadian National Park, was discovered less than ten years ago. However, scientists have already found many smaller relatives of Titanokorys with shells of no similar shape in the area. According to paleontologists, Titanokorys and their relatives may have competed for similar prey in the background.