WASHINGTON (AP) – Long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, a bizarre creature with a Venus flytrap-like head swam the seas.
Scientists have uncovered fossils of a tiny faceless prehistoric sea worm with 50 spines jutting out of its head. When some unsuspecting critter came too close, its jaw-like spines snapped together and dinner was served.
The discovery reported in Thursday’s journal Current Biology offers a glimpse into the Cambrian explosion of life on Earth about 541 million years ago.
The new creature dubbed Capinatator praetermissus is so different that scientists said the fossils represent not only a new species, but a new genus – a larger grouping of life – as well.
It was only 4 inches long and its spines were about one-third of an inch long. It feasted on smaller plankton and shrimp-like creatures.