‘A terrifying sight:’ ancient spiky headed worm discovered in fossils
Researchers at the Royal Ontario Museum and Yale University have discovered the fossil of a spiky-headed worm that they believe would have struck fear in the hearts of other creatures swimming in ancient seas.
“This new species would have been an efficient predator and a terrifying sight to many of the smallest marine creatures that lived during that time,” said Jean-Bernard Caron, senior curator of invertebrate paleontology at the ROM.
The 500-million-year-old critter has been dubbed Capinatator praetermissus, which incorporates Latin words for to grasp, swimmer and overlooked.
Capinatator was about 10 centimetres long with 25 spines on each side of its head.