Did it ever cross your mind to look at the form of life that inhabited the oceans 500 million years ago?

Of course, you won't be able to travel through time on such an exciting journey, but the fossil deposits that preserved the complex life forms that roamed the oceans of that era might enable you to do so.

Unfortunately, fossil records for that period are very scarce, so we don't know much about marine life at that time, or how these organisms evolved.

An extinct penile worm species discovered in Kunming, China (Yurik Alert-Xianfeng Ying)

Unique discovery

Recently, an international team of scientists revealed a cache of fossil deposits - near the Chinese "Kunming" - that included a group of exceptional creatures preserved in good condition.

This fossil deposit contained species of early vertebrates, rare mollusks, and many other creatures dating back to the geological period known as the Cambrian Period;

That is, about 518 million years ago.

In the study, which was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on June 28, scientists indicate that they found 2,846 samples of different organisms, the majority of which are in the juvenile or larval stage.

Hence, these fossil deposits are the oldest and most diverse of any other deposits discovered so far.

"It's really surprising to see these events preserved in the fossil record, especially since the discovery of fossils of anatomical organisms," Julen Kimmig, director of collections at the Museum of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, said in the university's press release. Juveniles are rare, especially if they are soft invertebrates."

The sediments discovered contained well-preserved fossils, and sometimes included the soft tissues of the organism.

In those samples, researchers identified 118 species of living organisms, including 17 new species that had not been discovered before.

Fossil deposits contain a number of layers, each with a distinct burial event (Wikipedia - Broken ainaglory)

Natural incubators for marine species

These species included the ancestors of insects, modern crustaceans, worms, three-lobed arthropods, algae, sponges, and some early vertebrate species closely related to jawless fish.

These specimens preserved some fine details, such as 3-D eyes, which had never been seen in this way.

Hence, this good state of preservation enables researchers to reconstruct and reconstruct what these organisms looked like.

Usually, fossil deposits contain a number of layers, as each layer represents a different landfill event than the next.

The researchers add that they "found the fossils in the lower layer of these sediment layers", and that "the layers that followed also contained different types, but they are not as diverse as those found in the lower layer."

The researchers believe that "these different layers represent the time intervals of the stages of prosperity and decline experienced by marine organisms at that time."

Fossil of juvenile arthropod showing fine details of appendages and good condition of the alimentary canal (Yurik Alert-Xianfeng Ying)

Old evidence foreseeing the future

Of course, evidence like this will enable scientists to study how these ancient animals evolved from larvae into adults.

This is what Kimmig confirms, saying that "they will be able to see how the different parts of the body have evolved over time. Which we do not know in the majority of these organisms."

"The information from these fossils will allow us to study how today's animals evolved. Thus, we will be able to learn the evolutionary similarities and differences between the animals of today and yesterday," Kimmig continues. Of course, these guides will help to draw the connections between the organisms, which will enable the precise positioning of the organisms on the tree of life.