“One-in-a-million” sea creature fossil preserves soft tissue for 450 million years
Paleontologists have identified a rare 450-million-year-old crinoid fossil that preserves delicate soft tissues, such as tube feet. Such preservation is extremely rare, as soft tissues typically decay long before fossilization can occur.
Why it matters
This discovery provides a unique window into the anatomy and evolution of early marine life, filling significant gaps in the fossil record.
More than 450 million years ago, long before dinosaurs appeared and before animals or plants had spread widely across dry land, crinoids were already thriving in some of Earth's earliest coral reefs. These ancient relatives of starfish looked somewhat like flowers growing on stalks beneath the sea.
Crinoid fossils give paleontologists important clues about how early animals evolved and how complex life developed. But fossils usually preserve only durable structures such as shells or skeletal plates. Delicate tissues tend to disappear quickly after death, leaving major gaps in scientists' understanding of how these animals actually lived.
A remarkably rare fossil studied by University of Oklahoma paleontologists is now helping fill in part of that missing picture.
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