A new study of fossil storage memory sheds light on the evolutionary history of insects and arachnids, particularly their brains, vision and head shape. The fossils consist of the well-preserved remains of the brain and nervous system of Stanley Karis, the three-eyed predator.
Despite the predator’s lifespan of more than half a billion years, the neural structure has been preserved.
84 fossils with complete brains and nerves have been found from the Burgess Shale. The creature is a member of the Radiodonta branch of the arthropod evolutionary tree. The creature was related to modern insects and spiders.
Joseph Moisiuk, lead author of the study, said, “Although the Cambrian fossil brain is not new, this find stands out for its astonishing preservation quality and large number of specimens. We can even provide small details like visual processing. the center serving the large eye and the neural trails that go into the appendages. The details are so vivid as if we were looking at the animal that died yesterday.”
“We conclude that the head and two-segment brain have deep roots in the arthropod lineage and their evolution likely predates the three-segment brain that characterizes all living organs in this diverse animal phylum,” he added.
The modern arthropod brain consists of three parts: the protocerebral brain, the deuterocerapy brain, and the trichocerium.
While the differences in the work may not seem significant, they have far-reaching scientific ramifications.
Because many members of arthropods have repeating copies in their segmented bodies, studying how segments align between different species is critical to understanding how structures within groups evolved.
In addition to his prying eyes, Stanley Caris hiprex has a large middle eye on the front of his head, which has never been seen before in radioodonts.
“The presence of a large third eye in Stanleycaris hirpex was unexpected,” said Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron, curator of the Richard Ivey Museum of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum.
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