Tiny fossils show brittle stars gathered around a dead whale 9.5 million years ago
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5 Articles
Tiny fossils show brittle stars gathered around a dead whale 9.5 million years ago
Tiny skeletal plates recovered beside fossil whale bones in southern Denmark offer a rare glimpse of life around a whale carcass approximately 9.5 million years ago. Researchers have identified a new species of brittle star, Ophiura huebnerjenseni, from the Gram Clay Pit and suggest it represents the first fossil record of brittle stars associated with a whale fall.
In Denmark, paleontologists have discovered a new species of fossil snaketails that turned out to be relatives of starfish. They feasted near the carcass of a dead whale about 9.5 million years ago. The find was the world's first fossil evidence that these bottom-dwelling creatures gathered around whale remains as early as the Miocene epoch.
Traces of an ancient food oasis: Tiny skeleton plates beside fossil whale bones provide an unusual indication of life at the seabed 9.5 million years ago. Only samples immediately on the skeleton contained remnants of a newly described snake star species. This could be the first fossil proof that these animals already collected at sunken walkadavern. Luxembourg (Luxembourg). If a dead whale sinks to the seabed, its body becomes a concentrated fo…
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