Not to be confused with jellyfish , ctenophores are soft , aeriform maritime predator that propel themselves through weewee using their coxcomb of hair - corresponding eyelash . For a long prison term , we think that ancient combing jellies were also entirely soft - bodied . But fit in to a newScience Advancesstudy , half - billion - yr - old comb jelly rollick hard , skeletonized structure that protect their gelatinous parts .
Researchers have long moot where members of the phylum Ctenophora should be positioned in the evolutionary sept tree diagram of animals . If ancient comb jelly were indeed soft and squishy like the 150 or so coinage we have today , it would be exceedingly hard to regain them in the fossil record . However , 37 specimens were unearth in lowly Cambrian mudstones near the city of Kunming in the Yunnan Province of southwestern China . They had been lodge in a shallow marine environment .
A squad lead by Qiang Ou fromChina University of Geosciencesanalyzed six of the comb jelly fossil that come from the 520 - million - year - old Chengjiang biota . These fossil belong to three known specie and three new unity . you’re able to see the never - before - seen species above : from leave to right , Gemmactena actinala , Batofasciculus ramificans , andThaumactena genus Ensis .
These former Cambrian coxcomb gelatin were tentacle - less , and they had skeletons characterized by eight unbending , angular plates and eight struts , or spoke - similar social system that radiated outward ( colored white in the image above ) . The former surrounded their organs , while the latter surrounded the primary body ’s piano lobe . These toughened parts may have been made of chitin , like crab exoskeletons .
The team thinks that the wasted theoretical account – the armor - like plates and the speak - like struts – may have provided support for balmy tissue paper and defense against marauder and unfriendly environments .
The Welsh Explosion was a wondrous meter of diverseness and evolutionary institution . These findings suggest that marine organism during this geological period maybe have been engaged in an evolutionary branch race to outcompete one another . These armored , partially skeletonized comb jellies , however , may have been part of an " unsuccessful evolutionary experiment , " Ou tellsThe Verge . " This major branch might have struggled a strenuous living . " They died out and likely left no descendants behind .
Thaumactena ensis ( A to D ) , Galeactena hemispherica ( E to I ) , and Batofasciculus ramificans ( J to N ) . Q. Ou et al./2015 Science Advances .
