Researchers have discovered 518 million-year-old fossils in North Greenland’s remote Sirius Passet site so well preserved that they reveal nervous systems. These are the remains of Nektognathus evasmithae, a squid-like creature that is an ancestor of modern arrow worms.
Ilulissat/Visit Greenland/Unsplash
According to BBC Wildlife, scientists finally resolved long-standing debate over nectocaridid classification after nine years of digging through ancient shale*.
Researches initially theorised that these fossilised creatures were primitive cephalopods. However, there were anatomical inconsistencies that had them hesitant to set that label in stone. The fossils revealed several clues that led to them to the correct classification. Not only were the physical structures of the creatures intact, but their muscle, digestive and nervous systems. Within these systems, researchers discovered ventral ganglion* which is a nerve cluster found only in arrow worms.
Nectocaridids are now officially identified as ancient relatives of arrow worms which still exist today.
*Shale = a type of soft, grey rock, usually formed from clay that has become hard, that breaks easily into thin layers
*Ventral ganglion = a collection of nerves found on an arrow worm’s belly and is a biological feature unique only to them
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