[Explanation] Recently, the scientific research team of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered for the first time in the world a shrimp-shaped fossil more than 500 million years ago, named "Zhang's Kirin shrimp".
[Explanation] There are six fossil samples discovered this time, all from the "Chengjiang Fauna" in Yunnan, China. Among them, the relatively complete fossil sample is 7 cm long and looks like a "shrimp" but is different.
[Concurrent] Zhu Maoyan, Researcher, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
It has a pair of large, meat-eating claws on the head, and its body is segmented, especially the segmented legs.
It is the same as the arthropods we all know, and has the same characteristics as the arthropod ancestors.
[Explanation] This time, Zhu Maoyan and the members of the research team found a key fossil in the "Chengjiang Fauna". This fossil is a "transitional species" of arthropod evolution. It has the trunk of a true arthropod and a "Cambrian monster". "The five eyes and the predatory appendages of the strange shrimp star have a history of 520 million years.
[Concurrent] Zhu Maoyan, Researcher, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
It (Chengjiang Fauna) preserves some biological and anatomical information that cannot be preserved by conventional fossils. In addition to bones and outlines, it also includes some nervous system, digestive system and eyes, which are difficult to preserve and easy to rot. Learn the details, it (Chengjiang Fauna) has been preserved, revealing the position of a certain creature on the evolutionary tree, and providing enough anatomical information.
[Explanation] The fossil is similar to the auspicious beast unicorn in ancient Chinese mythology, so it is known as the "unicorn" of the Cambrian, and the scientific name "Zhang's unicorn shrimp".
[Concurrent] Zhu Maoyan, Researcher, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
We call it the "unicorn" of the Cambrian.
It is actually a transitional species. What is a transitional species?
It is an ancestor of the most successful arthropod on our planet, filling a gap in evolutionary biology.
[Explanation] The research team also used a variety of technical methods to conduct a detailed evolution analysis of the Kirin shrimp fossil.
The results showed that the evolution position of the unicorn shrimp happened to be a transitional group of creatures such as strange shrimp evolving into true arthropods.
Its appearance fills in the missing key link in the origin of arthropods.
Reporter Ge Yong from Nanjing, Jiangsu
Editor in charge: [Lu Yan]