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The discovery of not just one , but 15 fossilized brains from a 520 - million - year - old marine predator is helping scientist understand how ancient brains evolved into the complex bidding centers they are today .
The creature in question , Kerygmachela kierkegaardi — a bizarre , oval - mold weewee animal that had two long appendage on its capitulum , 11 swimming flap on each side and a skinny bottom — is n’t fresh to science , but its brain is , articulate study carbon monoxide - lead researcher Jakob Vinther , a United Kingdom - based paleontologist .
An artist’s interpretation ofKerygmachela kierkegaardi, the weird critter that once possessed the 520-million-year-old brains
The animal would have been up to 10 column inch ( 25 cm ) long , based on the findings . And unlike the human mastermind , which is divided into three segments , the fossilized brain of this predator was simple , with just a single section . This means that the psyche was less complex than the three - section brains seen in the creature ’s distant , arthropod relative , such as spider , lobsters and butterfly , Vinther said . [ Photos : Ancient Sea Monster Was One of Largest arthropod ]
This one - segmented brain finding is significant , and not just because it ’s one of theoldest fossilized brainson record . Until now , many researchers mean that the common ancestor of all vertebrates and arthropod had a three - segmented brain , Vinther said . ButK. kierkegaardi’ssimple brainshows that this is not the case .
Despite its simplicity , K. kierkegaardi’sbrain help the predator last during theCambrian explosion , an event that begin more than 540 million years ago when a burst of spirit issue on Earth . The now - nonextant creature used its 11 pairs of flaps to drown through the water , hunting for prey . An anatomical depth psychology showed thatK. kierkegaardi’sbrain innervate the creature ’s large eyes and the frontal appendages it used to grasp its tasty victim , the researcher tell .
An illustration showingKerygmachela kierkegaardi’sbrain (left) next to a photo of one of its fossils (right).
These sizable eye also cast lighting on arthropod evolution , said Vinther and discipline co - lead researcher Tae - Yoon Park , a fossilist at the Korea Polar Research Institute .
" [ Its eyes ] form an medium step between more - simple eyes in [ modern ] distant relatives , such as velvet worms and water bear [ also calledtardigrades ] , and the very , very complex eye of arthropod , " which sometimes sit on the end ofeyestalks , Vinther said .
The research worker found theK. kierkegaardifossils in the Buen Formation of Sirius Passet , North Greenland , in 2011 and 2016 . These are the first - acknowledge ossified brain found at this website , and they show that " dodo psyche and anxious systems are much more commonplace than hitherto thought , " Vinther pronounce .
Study co-lead researcher Jakob Vinther (left) and study co-researcher Arne Nielsen (right), an associate professor of geology at the University of Copenhagen, look forKerygmachela kierkegaardifossils in North Greenland.
The cogitation was published online March 9 in thejournal Nature Communications .
Original article onLive Science .
