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Punk and Emo fossils challenge our understanding of ancient molluscs
Researchers have unearthed two fossils, named Punk and Emo, revealing that ancient molluscs were more complex and adaptable than previously known.
Molluscs are one of life's most diverse animal groups and analysis of the rare 430 million year old fossils is challenging long-held views on their early origins.
The fossils dating from the Silurian period were retrieved from Herefordshire and shed light on the molluscs' complex evolutionary history and how they moved.
The discovery challenges the longstanding view that early molluscs from the group known as Aculifera – which include chitons and worm-like molluscs – were basic and primitive.
Instead, the 'rebellious' fossils – whose scientific names are Punk ferox and Emo vorticaudum – show that early molluscs possessed some unique features and were, in fact, quite complex and adaptable in their forms and habitats.
Researchers drew these conclusions by recreating the fossils in 3D using advanced imaging techniques, including X-ray scanning. They found that Emo and Punk displayed a wider variety of forms and movement strategies than researchers knew existed in this group of early molluscs.
Fossils were exceptionally preserved
The study, published in Nature, was led by Dr Mark Sutton, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, working with collaborators at the University of Leicester, the University of Oxford, the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, and Yale University. Dr Sutton said:
"Molluscs are one of the largest and most diverse animal groups on Earth. However, early Aculiferan molluscs are much less well-known than some of their relatives. We have limited information about this group, and for a very long time, we assumed they were rather basic, simple and primitive.
Molluscs are one of life's most diverse animal groups and analysis of the rare 430 million year old fossils is challenging long-held views on their early origins.
The fossils dating from the Silurian period were retrieved from Herefordshire and shed light on the molluscs' complex evolutionary history and how they moved.
The discovery challenges the longstanding view that early molluscs from the group known as Aculifera – which include chitons and worm-like molluscs – were basic and primitive.
Instead, the 'rebellious' fossils – whose scientific names are Punk ferox and Emo vorticaudum – show that early molluscs possessed some unique features and were, in fact, quite complex and adaptable in their forms and habitats.
Researchers drew these conclusions by recreating the fossils in 3D using advanced imaging techniques, including X-ray scanning. They found that Emo and Punk displayed a wider variety of forms and movement strategies than researchers knew existed in this group of early molluscs.
Fossils were exceptionally preserved
The study, published in Nature, was led by Dr Mark Sutton, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, working with collaborators at the University of Leicester, the University of Oxford, the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, and Yale University. Dr Sutton said:
"Molluscs are one of the largest and most diverse animal groups on Earth. However, early Aculiferan molluscs are much less well-known than some of their relatives. We have limited information about this group, and for a very long time, we assumed they were rather basic, simple and primitive.
"Retrieving fossils that are so exceptionally well preserved and reveal details of the soft tissues is extremely rare. We have been able to create 'virtual fossils' – 3D digital models – providing us with a gold mine of information and helping us understand that the branch of molluscan evolution containing Emo and Punk was much more evolutionarily rich and diverse than we thought; as much as other mollusc groups."
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/259554/punk-emo-fossils-challenge-understanding-ancient/
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