Cephalopods are already some of the oldest animals on the planet, with their lineages stretching back nearly half a billion years, but now researchers have found what appears to be the remains of the earliest cephalopods known pushing back their existence by tens of million years.
I should note that first cephalopods date back roughly half a billion years ago (Late Cambrian) and this new discovery, found in shallow-water limestone deposits at Bacon Cove on the southwestern side of Conception Bay, in the southeastern portion of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, places their origin back to approximately 522 mya. Now every report says that the date has been pushed back 30 million years, but from the dates I've seen it looks more like 20 million
Anywho... The discovery confirms suspicions that these creatures evolved much earlier than what we saw in the fossil record. The researchers, all from Heidelberg University's Institute of Earth Sciences, note that they resemble other known early cephalopods but also differ so much from them that they might conceivably form a link leading to the Early Cambrian.
The discovery is also attracting long over due attention to the micro-continent of Avalonia, which -- besides the east coast of Newfoundland -- comprises parts of Europe, as being the site for more fossil discoveries in the future.
I should also note that the identification is still tentative and the critters haven't been officially named yet.
The entire paper, A potential cephalopod from the early Cambrian of eastern Newfoundland, Canada is available online at the hyperlink provided. Here is the abstract from it:
I should note that first cephalopods date back roughly half a billion years ago (Late Cambrian) and this new discovery, found in shallow-water limestone deposits at Bacon Cove on the southwestern side of Conception Bay, in the southeastern portion of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, places their origin back to approximately 522 mya. Now every report says that the date has been pushed back 30 million years, but from the dates I've seen it looks more like 20 million
Anywho... The discovery confirms suspicions that these creatures evolved much earlier than what we saw in the fossil record. The researchers, all from Heidelberg University's Institute of Earth Sciences, note that they resemble other known early cephalopods but also differ so much from them that they might conceivably form a link leading to the Early Cambrian.
The discovery is also attracting long over due attention to the micro-continent of Avalonia, which -- besides the east coast of Newfoundland -- comprises parts of Europe, as being the site for more fossil discoveries in the future.
I should also note that the identification is still tentative and the critters haven't been officially named yet.
The entire paper, A potential cephalopod from the early Cambrian of eastern Newfoundland, Canada is available online at the hyperlink provided. Here is the abstract from it:
Abstract
Although an early Cambrian origin of cephalopods has been suggested by molecular studies, no unequivocal fossil evidence has yet been presented. Septate shells collected from shallow-marine limestone of the lower Cambrian (upper Terreneuvian, c. 522 Ma) Bonavista Formation of southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, are here interpreted as straight, elongate conical cephalopod phragmocones. The material documented here may push the origin of cephalopods back in time by about 30 Ma to an unexpected early stage of the Cambrian biotic radiation of metazoans, i.e. before the first occurrence of euarthropods.
Although an early Cambrian origin of cephalopods has been suggested by molecular studies, no unequivocal fossil evidence has yet been presented. Septate shells collected from shallow-marine limestone of the lower Cambrian (upper Terreneuvian, c. 522 Ma) Bonavista Formation of southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, are here interpreted as straight, elongate conical cephalopod phragmocones. The material documented here may push the origin of cephalopods back in time by about 30 Ma to an unexpected early stage of the Cambrian biotic radiation of metazoans, i.e. before the first occurrence of euarthropods.
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