“That thing is all teeth”: they discover a new type of sea creature with eight arms armed with hooks and thorns

Published:

17 June 2021 13:40 GMT

It evolved from its closest living relatives about 180 million years ago.

The team of researchers described A new type of starfish Starfish-like animal – baptized ‘Opiojura’, Communication This Thursday Dr. Tim O’Hara, Principal Supervisor of the Victoria Museums (Australia) and Editor-in-Chief of the study Published B. in the processes of the Royal Society.

This animal was discovered by scientists at the Museum of Natural History in France 500 meters depth Over the Bank Durant Seamount, 200 kilometers east of New Caledonia in the South Pacific.

Opiojura, unique in its genus, has eight elongated arms, with continuous hooks and spines. The expert explained that the calculated microtomography revealed Rows of sharp teeth In all jaws, their prey must be caught and destroyed.

“If I had discovered this creature, I would have died“, Announced Christopher Mahuk, a New York Times researcher and starfish expert at the U.S. National Museum of Nature, reviewed the article. “That thing has all the teeth,” he said.

DNA analysis shows that the species evolved approximately from its close life relatives 180 million years, Between the Triassic and early Jurassic, when dinosaurs appeared.

“Now we call them ‘paleoendemic ‘In other words, a branch that was once widespread is now limited to a few areas, “O’Hara said.” As for marine life, the center of paleoandemism lies in the margins and seas, in tropical waters between 200 and 1,000 meters deep, ”he said.

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