155 million year old sea star fossilized right at the moment of rebirth

German scientists have discovered an extremely rare fossil of a 6-winged brittle starfish, fossilized right when it was undergoing the process of regenerating half of its body.

According to ScienceAlert on May 16, this special fossil was unearthed in 2018 in a limestone quarry in southern Germany, where there was once a deep lagoon with many corals and sponges. Each fossil is a "snapshot" of the moment when some living organism was buried in the blink of an eye and then slowly turned to stone.

Brittle starfish fossil is in the process of growing body parts - (Photo: Gunter Schweigert).

Today, the site is a fossil garden filled with shark teeth and remains of ancient pterosaurs, crustaceans and crocodile-like creatures from the late Jurassic period.

The Brittle star fossil mentioned above is the first and only known specimen of a new species of brittle star called Ophiactis hex , according to scientists.

Just like starfish, brittle starfish reproduce by splitting themselves in half and regrow missing body parts . Starfish that reproduce in this way, asexually, will have 6 wings instead of 5.

The brittle starfish fossil is 155 million years old and is so well preserved that hook-shaped spines can be observed on its arms.

Brittle starfish fossil excavation area in Germany - (Photo: Gunter Schweigert).

Ben Thuy, a paleontologist at the Luxembourg National Museum of Natural History, said the fossil provides striking evidence that asexual fragmentation in stellate echinoderms originated profound evolution.

"This is an extremely rare discovery that provides clear evidence of clonal fragmentation ," said Mr. Thuy.

The research was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.