Paleontologists working on the world-renowned Burgess Shale have revealed a new species named Mollisonia plenovenatrix, which they describe as the oldest member of a group of animals called chelicerates. The discovery places the origin of this vast group of animals – over 115,000 species including horseshoe crabs, scorpions and spiders – to a time more than 500 million years ago, near the beginning of the Cambrian Period.
The findings were published this week in Nature.
Mollisonia plenovenatrix would have been a fierce predator – for its size. As big as a thumb, the creature boasted a pair of large egg-shaped eyes and a “multi-tool head” with long walking legs, as well as numerous pairs of limbs that could altogether sense, grasp, crush and chew.
But, most importantly, the new species also had a pair of tiny pincers in front of its mouth, called chelicerae. These appendages give rise to the name chelicerates and are used to kill, hold and, sometimes, cut their prey.
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Image via Jean-Bernard Caron.