Fossil once thought a caterpillar is now the oldest known nonmarine lobopodian

A dusty fossil drawer held a 300-million-year-old evolutionary game-changer

A century-old fossil long mislabeled as a caterpillar has been reidentified as the first-known nonmarine lobopodian—rewriting what we know about ancient life. Discovered in Harvard’s museum drawers, Palaeocampa anthrax predates even the famous Cambrian lobopodians and reveals that these soft-bodied ancestors of arthropods once lived not only in oceans, but in freshwater environments too.

Fossil once thought a caterpillar is now the oldest known nonmarine lobopodian

In a twist worthy of a detective novel, a long-misidentified fossil at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) has emerged as a key discovery in early animal evolution.

Paleontologists Declare Newly Discovered Fossils the First Known Non-Pirate Roboposians

Initially published in 1865, Palaeocampa anthrax predated the discovery of the Burgess Shale in Canada by nearly 50 years. Over the next 130 years, it underwent various classifications until Richard Knecht and his team at the University of Michigan identified its true nature. This organism primarily inhabited freshwater environments, challenging the notion that Paleozoic Robopodians [...] The post Paleontologists Declare Newly Discovered Fossils…

Long-Misidentified Fossil is First Known Nonmarine Lobopodian, Paleontologists Say

Palaeocampa anthrax most likely inhabited a freshwater environment, contesting the view that Paleozoic lobopodians were exclusively marine. The post Long-Misidentified Fossil is First Known Nonmarine Lobopodian, Paleontologists Say appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.