Chengjiang Chain Gang
10:24 am
Some impressive fossils from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte in China hit the news this week—a heretofore undescribed type of Cambrian arthropod that was preserved shell-to-tail in long chains, kind of like half-billion year-old invertebrate snap-lock beads.
A photo and a closeup of the astounding Chengjiang “Chained Arthropods”
Photos by Derek Siveter from the University of Oxford Media Release.
The researchers who reported on these fossils in this week’s issue of Science suspect that these ancient “conga lines” might reflect some sort of migratory behavior.
- Reference: Hou, X.-G., Siveter, D. J., Aldridge, R. J., and Siveter, D. J. 2008. Collective Behavior in an Early Cambrian Arthropod. Science: 322: 5899, p. 224. doi: 10.1126/science.1162794
- Web Coverage:
- University of Oxford press release
- Science News: New Arthropod Species Really Stuck Together
- National Geographic: “Daisy Chains” of Fossil Creatures Found in China
- Catalogue of Organisms: Chain Chain Chain
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