506 million-year-old monster in the quarry is like ... spaceship

The earth version of the Millennium Falcon spacecraft in Star Wars was found in a quarry in Canada, an ancient predatory sea monster.

A team of scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada) has announced the study of a strange carnivorous creature that once roamed the Earth 506 million years ago, or the Cambrian century, named Cambroraster falcatus .

The intact fossil of some sea monsters Cambroraster falcatus - (photo provided by the team).

Another intact specimen - (photo provided by the team).

According to scientist Bernard Caron, a member of the research team, the special feature of what they call this "sea monster" is that it is shaped like the Millennium Falcon spaceship in the famous Star sci-fi movie. Wars (Vietnamese name is "Star Wars" ). The shape of this strange spacecraft is a "secret weapon" that helps it swim extremely effectively.

The famous spaceship in Star Wars movie.

Baron's group first encountered the creature's fossil in 2012, when fossilized in the quarry Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies, a mountain range believed to be Canada's " Cambrian fossil storehouse ." However, these are fragmentary bodies. Not until 2018 did they "win the jackpot" when they found a whole bunch of Cambroraster falcatus in the same area. More amazingly, most fossilized creatures are molting, helping scientists have more precious material.

The 506 million-year-old monster portrait was restored - (photo provided by the team).

Most Cambroraster falcatus are as big as an adult's hand, but there are also nearly 30 centimeters long. The extinct monster is a primitive arthropod belonging to the group of radiodont, distant relatives of modern animals of the spider, crustaceans and insects.

An ancient close relative of this monster is Anomalocaris, a giant creature, eating meat that looks like shrimp. However, Cambroraster falcatus is somewhat less aggressive. They often use claws to rake sediments on the seabed to feed, usually small fish.

This detailed study of sea monsters will be published online in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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