Earliest Cardiovascular System Found in Half Billion-Year-Old Fossil
- 10 years ago
A 520 million-year-old fossil discovered in Yunnan, China is the oldest known species to have a cardiovascular system in its body. A team of archaeologists from the United Kingdom, China, and the University of Arizona came across the specimen of a thee inch long ancient invertebrate that they named Fuxianhuia protensa, after the lake region where it was found.
A 520 million-year-old fossil discovered in Yunnan, China is the oldest known species to have a cardiovascular system in its body.
A team of archaeologists from the United Kingdom, China, and the University of Arizona came across the specimen of a three inch long ancient invertebrate that they named Fuxianhuia protensa, after the lake region where it was found.
Analysis of the fossil by experts at the Natural History Museum in London revealed the heart and lateral arteries.
Nicholas Strausfeld, from the University of Arizona's Department of Neuroscience is quoted as saying: “The animal looks simple, but its internal organization is quite elaborate. For example, the brain received many arteries, a pattern that appears very much like a modern crustacean.”
Animals with cardiovascular systems may have existed earlier than this arthropod, but the fossil record isn’t complete enough to know for certain.
This is a particularly well preserved fossil that the researchers say was probably formed in a Pompeii-like event, except it was encased in fine grain dust deposits, or a mudslide rather than lava, before having a chance to decompose.
Another specimen of the same species has what scientists are calling the earliest known brain.
A 520 million-year-old fossil discovered in Yunnan, China is the oldest known species to have a cardiovascular system in its body.
A team of archaeologists from the United Kingdom, China, and the University of Arizona came across the specimen of a three inch long ancient invertebrate that they named Fuxianhuia protensa, after the lake region where it was found.
Analysis of the fossil by experts at the Natural History Museum in London revealed the heart and lateral arteries.
Nicholas Strausfeld, from the University of Arizona's Department of Neuroscience is quoted as saying: “The animal looks simple, but its internal organization is quite elaborate. For example, the brain received many arteries, a pattern that appears very much like a modern crustacean.”
Animals with cardiovascular systems may have existed earlier than this arthropod, but the fossil record isn’t complete enough to know for certain.
This is a particularly well preserved fossil that the researchers say was probably formed in a Pompeii-like event, except it was encased in fine grain dust deposits, or a mudslide rather than lava, before having a chance to decompose.
Another specimen of the same species has what scientists are calling the earliest known brain.