Scientists recently discovered a very unique species of worm. It was found to have lived on Earth about 535 million years ago. It had an external armored layer, thorns on its flanks, and a mouth encircled with teeth. This ancient species are remarkably tiny. They measure only 2 millimeters in length.
It is called Eokinorhynchis rarus (EE-oh-kie-no-RIN-kis RAH-rus).The miniworm was found in China, specifically in Nanjiang County at Jiangsu province. It is now surrounded with mountains that go across the region. It was formed when China's tectonic plates collided 200 million years ago.
But let's try turn back time 543 million years ago when there are no mountains present and only the ocean exists as research proved. The "mud dragon" E. rarus would have made the bottom of the ocean as its habitat.
The phosphate in the oceans is the catalyst responsible for the making the species fossilized. It replaced their soft tissue with calcium phosphate. It is the same substance that is found in human teeth and bones.
The scientists involved in the discovery of E. rarus had to go through the hard way. Finding fossils alone can be tricky; how much more if it's microscopic in nature?
Shuhai Xiao is the author of the study and a professor at geobiology at Virginia Tech, tells Live Science that he and his team had to move about 500 kilograms of rock from the excavation area. This one had to be a hefty move. They had to go through this process just so they could find those ancient microfossils.
"The fossils are so small that you can't see them in the field," Xiao said.
Xiao's team had to bring the rocks into the lab in order for them to start dissecting the fossils. But before they can go over the specimens, they had to do a rigorous process first.
They used acetic acid (which acts like vinegar) to dissolve the rocks which was coated with calcium phosphate. When the chalky rock melted, only a number of tiny fossils were left.
Next step: Identification. This one is really challenging since they are microscopic in nature. Processing these types of samples is "tricky business," Xiao said to Live Science. The size is not the only factor. It is hard to pursue this process because of how delicate these fossils are. "You can't shake or sieve the residue violently, or you'll break them," he added.
Xiao and his team's effort paid off. Their study had a full description of the species. The report was published via the journal Scientific Reports.
