Date:

Ancient creature discovered with ‘scissor hand-like’ claws

Kooteninchela Deppi : ICL

- Advertisement -

A scientist has discovered an ancient extinct creature with ‘scissor hand-like’ claws in fossil records and has named it in honour of his favourite movie star.

The 505 million year old fossil called Kooteninchela deppi (pronounced Koo-ten-ee-che-la depp-eye), which is a distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions, was named after the actor Johnny Depp for his starring role as Edward Scissorhands – a movie about an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands.

Kooteninchela deppi is helping researchers to piece together more information about life on Earth during the Cambrian period when nearly all modern animal types emerged.

David Legg, who carried out the research as part of his PhD in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says:

“When I first saw the pair of isolated claws in the fossil records of this species I could not help but think of Edward Scissorhands. Even the genus name, Kootenichela, includes the reference to this film as ‘chela’ is Latin for claws or scissors. In truth, I am also a bit of a Depp fan and so what better way to honour the man than to immortalise him as an ancient creature that once roamed the sea?”

- Advertisement -

Kooteninchela deppi lived in very shallow seas, similar to modern coastal environments, off the cost of British Columbia in Canada, which was situated much closer to the equator 500 million years ago. The sea temperature would have been much hotter than it is today and although coral reefs had not yet been established, Kooteninchela deppi would have lived in a similar environment consisting of sponges.

The researcher believes that Kooteninchela deppi would have been a hunter or scavenger. Its large Edward Scissorhands-like claws with their elongated spines may have been used to capture prey, or they could have helped it to probe the sea floor looking for sea creatures hiding in sediment.

Kooteninchela deppi was approximately four centimetres long with an elongated trunk for a body and millipede-like legs, which it used to scuttle along the sea floor with the occasional short swim.

It also had large eyes composed of many lenses like the compound eyes of a fly. They were positioned on top of movable stalks called peduncles to help it more easily search for food and look out for predators.

The researcher discovered that Kooteninchela deppi belongs to a group known as the ‘great-appendage’ arthropods, or megacheirans, which refers to the enlarged pincer-like frontal claws that they share. The ‘great-appendage’ arthropods are an early relation of arthropods, which includes spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, insects and crabs.

David Legg adds: “Just imagine it: the prawns covered in mayonnaise in your sandwich, the spider climbing up your wall and even the fly that has been banging into your window and annoyingly flying into your face are all descendants of Kooteninchela deppi. Current estimates indicate that there are more than one million known insects and potentially 10 million more yet to be categorised, which potentially means that Kooteninchela Deppi has a huge family tree.”

In the future, David Legg intends to further his research and study fossilised creatures from the Ordovician, the geological period that saw the largest increase in diversity of species on the planet. He hopes to understand why this happened in order to learn more about the current diversity of species on Earth.

Contributing Source : Imperial College London

HeritageDaily : Archaeology news : Archaeology Press Releases

- Advertisement -
spot_img
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is multi-award-winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 8,000 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education, the BCA Medal of Honour, and the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.
spot_img
spot_img
spot_img

Mobile Application

spot_img

Related Articles

4,000 fragments of Roman wall paintings unearthed in Villajoyosa

Archaeologists excavating the Roman villa of Barberes Sud in Villajoyosa, Spain, have unearthed over 4,000 fragments of ornamental wall paintings.

Archaeologists solve the mystery of the “Deserted Castle”

Along the shores of a Danube tributary near Stopfenreuth are a section of ruined walls known locally as the “Deserted Castle”.

Ancient lecture hall discovered at Agrigento

An international team of archaeologists, led by Prof. Dr. Monika Trümper and Dr. Thomas Lappi from the Free University of Berlin have discovered an ancient lecture hall during excavations at Agrigento.

Ancient Greek theatre discovered on Lefkada

Archaeologists have discovered an Ancient Greek theatre during a long-term study on the island of Lefkada, located in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece.

Dacian treasure hoard discovered by detectorists

A pair of detectorists conducting a survey near the town of Breaza have discovered a major treasure hoard associated with the Dacian people.

Earthquake reveals Myanmar’s hidden monuments

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar on March 28th caused widespread devastation, claiming thousands of lives and massive destruction to property.

Ritual offerings deposited by extinct civilisation discovered in Mexican cave

A mapping project of Tlayócoc Cave, located in the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, has led to the discovery of ritual offerings deposited by an extinct group of the Tlacotepehua people.

North Macedonian ruins could be the lost capital of the Kingdom of Lyncestis

Archaeologists excavating at Gradishte, an archaeological site in the Bitola Municipality of North Macedonia, believe they may have uncovered the remains of Lyncus, the lost capital city of the ancient Kingdom of Lyncestis.