The fossil of the earliest known animal predator – which was unearthed in Leicester – has been named after Sir David Attenborough.
Called Auroralumina attenboroughii, the 560-million-year-old primitive jellyfish was found in Charnwood Forest, near Leicester — a city with which Sir David has long-established links.
The 96-year-old, who used to go fossil hunting in the area, and is credited with raising awareness of Ediacaran fossils in the forest, said he was ‘truly delighted’.
Researchers say the specimen is the first of its kind, and is thought to be the earliest creature to have a skeleton.
The creature was about seven inches tall and would have been tethered to the seabed on a beige ‘stalk’, using flame-coloured tentacles to catch food.
The first part of the name is Latin for dawn lantern, in recognition of its great age and resemblance to a burning torch.
Slice of history: The fossil of the earliest known animal predator (pictured) – which was unearthed in Leicester – has been named after Sir David Attenborough
Called Auroralumina attenboroughii, the 560-million-year-old primitive jellyfish (shown in an artist’s impression) was found in Charnwood Forest, near Leicester — a city with which Sir David has long-established links.
The 96-year-old (pictured), who used to go fossil hunting in the area, and is credited with raising awareness of Ediacaran fossils in the forest, said he was ‘truly delighted’
Sir David said: ‘When I was at school in Leicester I was an ardent fossil hunter.
‘The rocks in which Auroralumina has now been discovered were then considered to be so ancient that they dated from long before life began on the planet.
‘So I never looked for fossils there. A few years later a boy from my school found one and proved the experts wrong.
‘He was rewarded by his name being given to his discovery. Now I have – almost – caught up with him and I am truly delighted.’
That specimen was found by Roger Mason, after whom Charnia masoni was named.
He and a group schoolboys were rock climbing in a Charnwood Forest quarry in 1957 when they made their discovery.
Dr Phil Wilby, palaeontology leader at the British Geological Survey, is one of the scientists who made the latest find.
He said: ‘It’s generally held that modern animal groups like jellyfish appeared 540 million years ago in the Cambrian explosion.
‘But this predator predates that by 20 million years. It’s the earliest creature we know of to have a skeleton.
‘So far we’ve only found one, but it’s massively exciting to know there must be others out there, holding the key to when complex life began on Earth.’
According to the study, the creature is related to the group that includes corals, jellyfish and anemones living on Earth today.
In 2007 Dr Wilby and others spent more than a week cleaning a 100 metre square rock surface with toothbrushes and pressure jets.
In a rubber mould of the entire surface – which captured more than 1,000 fossils – one stood out.
According to the study, the creature is related to the group that includes corals, jellyfish and anemones living on Earth today
Dr Phil Wilby (pictured), palaeontology leader at the British Geological Survey, is one of the scientists who made the latest find
Dr Frankie Dunn, of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, said: ‘This is very different to the other fossils in Charnwood Forest and around the world.
‘Most other fossils from this time have extinct body plans and it’s not clear how they are related to living animals.
‘This one clearly has a skeleton, with densely-packed tentacles that would have waved around in the water capturing passing food, much like corals and sea anemones do today.
‘It’s nothing like anything else we’ve found in the fossil record at the time.’
Dr Dunn dubbed A. attenboroughii a ‘lonely little fossil’. It originated from shallower water than others found in Charnwood.
She said: ‘The ancient rocks in Charnwood closely resemble ones deposited in the deep ocean on the flanks of volcanic islands, much like at the base of Montserrat in the Caribbean today.
In 2007 Dr Wilby and others spent more than a week cleaning a 100 metre square rock surface with toothbrushes and pressure jets. In a rubber mould of the entire surface – which captured more than 1,000 fossils – one stood out
A. attenboroughii was dated at the British Geological Survey’s headquarters using zircons in the surrounding rock
‘All of the fossils on the cleaned rock surface were anchored to the seafloor and were knocked over in the same direction by a deluge of volcanic ash sweeping down the submerged foot of the volcano, except one, A. attenboroughii.
‘It lies at an odd angle and has lost its base, so appears to have been swept down the slope in the deluge.’
A. attenboroughii was dated at the British Geological Survey’s headquarters using zircons in the surrounding rock.
Zircon is a tiny radioactive mineral that acts as a geological clock because it allows geologists to assess how much uranium and lead are present. From that, they can determine precisely how old the rock is.
Dr Dunn said: ‘The Cambrian Explosion was remarkable. It’s known as the time when the anatomy of living animal groups was fixed for the next half a billion years.
‘Our discovery shows that the body plan of the cnidarians was fixed at least 20 million years before this, so it’s hugely exciting and raises many more questions.’
The finding is reported in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
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