His armored worms monsters spike

A type of worm that lived 535 million years ago had a steel-like body covered with sharp teeth around its mouth and bristling spines protruding from its body.

Found spiked ancient worms in China

According to Live Science, the researchers discovered the scary little worms called Eokinorhynchis rarus (E. rarus) in Nanjiang , Sichuan, China.

In the Cambrian period 490 - 543 million years ago, the study area did not have steep mountains like today, instead it is a rich phosphate-rich ocean.The quiet area at the bottom of the sea is the residence of E. rarus. The research team published the findings in Scientific Reports on November 26.

"Armored" worms E. rarus.(Photo: Dinghua Yang).

Phosphates in the ocean make E. rarus fossils hundreds of millions of years ago, replacing the soft tissue in their bodies with calcium phosphate, the compound that makes up human teeth and bones. The ancient worm is very small in size with a length of less than 2mm.

Finding super fossils of organism like E. rarus is not easy. Shuhai Xiao, professor of geological biology at Virginia Polytechnic University, USA, and research author, shared that he and his colleagues had to excavate about half a ton of rock and soil from the area in search of traces of Ancient creatures.

"Fossils are so small that you can't see them in the study area , " Xiao said. Scientists bring half a ton of rock and soil to the laboratory. They disintegrate the rock layer with acetic acid, a similar vinegar compound and do not affect calcium phosphate fossils. The melted chalk exhibits very small fossil samples. The processing of specimens requires a lot of ingenuity due to their size and fragility.

E. rarus had a tapered head on the place attached to the neck. Their bodies consist of at least 20 body stems, each surrounded by metal-like hard bones filled with sharp spines, in addition to 5 pairs of large spikes running along the body.

E. rarus has many similar characteristics as a small group of marine invertebrate invertebrates to date called kinorhynchs . Tiny "armored" worms originating from this Cambrian period are in the same industry as arthropods.