'Cthulhu' fossil reconstruction reveals monstrous relative of modern sea cucumbers

'Cthulhu' fossil reconstruction reveals monstrous relative of modern sea cucumbers
April 09, 2019

An exceptionally-preserved fossil from Herefordshire in the UK has given new insights into the early evolution of sea cucumbers, the group that includes the sea pig and its relatives, according to a new article published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Palaeontologists from the UK and USA created an accurate 3D computer reconstruction of the 430 million-year-old fossil which allowed them to identify it as a species new to science. They named the animal Sollasina cthulhu due to its resemblance to monsters from the fictional Cthulhu universe created by author H.P. Lovecraft.

Although the fossil is just 3 cm wide, its many long tentacles would have made it appear quite monstrous to other small sea creatures alive at the time. It is thought that these tentacles, or 'tube feet', were used to capture food and crawl over the seafloor.

Like other fossils from Herefordshire, Sollasina cthulhu was studied using a method that involved grinding it away, layer-by-layer, with a photograph taken at each stage. This produced hundreds of slice images, which were digitally reconstructed as a 'virtual fossil'.

More:
https://www.brightsurf.com/news/article/040919480581/cthulhu-fossil-reconstruction-reveals-monstrous-relative-of-modern-sea-cucumbers.html

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APRIL 9, 2019

'Cthulhu' fossil reconstruction reveals monstrous relative of modern sea cucumbers
by University of Oxford



More:
https://phys.org/news/2019-04-cthulhu-fossil-reconstruction-reveals-monstrous.html

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SOLLASINA CTHULHU: MONSTROUS 430 MILLION-YEAR-OLD SEA CUCUMBER DISCOVERED
BY ARISTOS GEORGIOU ON 4/9/19 AT 7:00 PM EDT




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TECH & SCIENCE
SOLLASINA CTHULHU: MONSTROUS 430 MILLION-YEAR-OLD SEA CUCUMBER DISCOVERED
BY ARISTOS GEORGIOU ON 4/9/19 AT 7:00 PM EDT

Researchers have discovered an exceptionally well preserved fossil in 430 million-year-old rocks representing a new species of primitive sea cucumber, which they have named Sollasina cthulhu due to its resemblance to the sea deity from H. P. Lovecraft’s fictional universe.

An international team of paleontologists created an accurate 3D reconstruction of the remains—which were discovered at a site in the U.K. county of Herefordshire—revealing an important circulatory system which was previously unknown in this group of animals, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The researchers say that while the newly described creature looks like a kind of sea urchin, it actually belongs to an extinct group of echinoderms called "ophiocistioids" which, according to their analysis, are ancient relatives of sea cucumbers—a group of leathery-skinned, marine animals with elongated bodies that live on the sea floor.

“In terms of its morphological characteristics, Sollasina cthulhu was characterized by the presence of 45 tentacle-like tube feet, a body composed of many hard plates, and a mouth surrounded by five large ‘teeth,’” Imran Rahman, lead author of the study from the University of Oxford, told Newsweek.

More:
https://www.newsweek.com/sollasina-cthulhu-monstrous-sea-cucumber-1390551?utm_source=GoogleNewsstandTech&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Partnerships