Mosura fentoni

Mosura fentoni Latest News

Scientists recently identified a new extinct species, Mosura fentoni, an early marine predator from around 506 million years ago during the Cambrian period.

About Mosura fentoni

• Mosura fentoni is a newly discovered Cambrian marine organism found in the Burgess Shale, a globally significant fossil site in British Columbia, Canada.
• It belongs to the group Radiodonta, which are extinct stem-group arthropods, distant relatives of modern insects, spiders, and crustaceans.
• Despite being a small-sized species (ranging from 1.5 to 6 cm), M. fentoni displays highly specialised anatomical adaptations.

Unique Morphological Features

• The body of Mosura fentoni is unusually elongated, with a division into three distinct zones comprising a total of 26 segments:
  • A short neck region that supports the head,
  • A mesotrunk consisting of six paddle-shaped flaps that function as propulsive organs for swimming,
  • A posterotrunk containing up to 16 segments dominated by rows of fine gills.
• The posterotrunk is proposed to be a specialised breathing tagma, drawing parallels to the oxygen-collecting tails of modern horseshoe crabs, suggesting a highly evolved respiratory mechanism in this ancient organism.

Geological and Paleontological Context

• The fossil belongs to the Cambrian period, which began around 540 million years ago, following the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary (600–540 Ma).
• This period witnessed the Cambrian Explosion, also known as the Cambrian Big Bang, marked by the sudden emergence of complex animal life with hard body parts.
• The transition from soft-bodied Ediacaran fauna to skeleton-bearing Cambrian organisms represents a major biotic shift in Earth’s history.
• Changes in the carbon (C) and strontium (Sr) isotopic composition of rocks during this period aid in the stratigraphic correlation of Proterozoic-Cambrian boundaries.

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Mosura fentoni FAQs

Q1: What is Mosura fentoni?
Ans:Mosura fentoni is a newly discovered extinct marine species from the Cambrian period, dating back around 506 million years, known to be an early marine predator.

Q2: Where was Mosura fentoni discovered ?
Ans: It was found in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada.

Q3: Which group does Mosura fentoni belong to?
Ans: It belongs to the Radiodonta, a group of extinct stem-group arthropods, which are distant evolutionary relatives of modern insects, crustaceans, and arachnids.

Source: TH