A team of paleontologists from the Center for Insect Science at the University of Arizona (USA) has discovered the fossilized remains of the brain of one of the earliest known predators. The specimen found, would have lived 520 million years ago in the lower Cambrian period. The results of the study have been published in the journal Nature .
Analysis of the fossil remains of the main predator of its time has revealed that the brain was incredibly simple, even more so than that of its prey. This fossil, discovered at the end of the 19th century and framed within the group of animals known as anomalocáridos, now extinct, represents a ferocious-looking arthropod.
His brain, a new species called ‘Lyrarapax unguispinus’ , which is Latin for “predator with a spiny lyre-shaped claw,” inspires a relationship with a branch of animals whose descendants are known as velvet worms , because of their velvety appearance. These worm-like animals are equipped with short legs without joints that end in a pair of small claws. In addition they are also exclusively predators.
“These Cambrian top predators are defined only by their unique pair of appendages , evil-looking claws, that extend from the front of their head,” he says. They are totally different from the antennae of insects and crustaceans. Such frontally arranged appendages are not found in other living animals with the exception of velvet worms ”, reiterates Nicholas Strausfeld, co-author of the study.
“With the evolution of highly efficient predators, the pressure was on other animals to be able to detect and recognize potential danger and quickly coordinate escape movements. These requirements may have driven a more complex evolution of brain circuits , Strausfeld says.
