This is Mazon Monday post #71. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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(A) Specimen of the fossil horseshoe crab Euproops danae from Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA, preserved with its brain intact. (B) Close-up of brain, as indicated by box in image (A). (C) Reconstruction of Euproops danae, including the position and anatomy of the brain. Russell Bicknell
Mazon Creek is categorized as a Lagerstatte due to the extraordinary preservation. For Mazon Creek, this presentation quite often includes soft bodied animals and soft tissues. Last week, there were a whole bunch of stories about a fossilized brain from a Mazon Creek horseshoe crab. The crab, a Euproops danae, was found in a siderite concretion. The study was published in the journal Geology back on July 26th,
The Conversation has a good article. which also discusses soft tissue preservation.
But what about the really delicate anatomy of animals, such as their internal organs? Can they be fossilised too?
Our study, published today in Geology, shows how even the intricate brains of ancient aquatic arthropods (invertebrates with jointed legs) can be preserved in remarkable detail.
The discovery of a 310 million-year-old horseshoe crab in the US, complete with its brain intact, adds to a recent string of fossil finds which have unearthed some of the oldest arthropods with a preserved central nervous system.
The horseshoe crab fossil we document in our study sheds new light on how these fragile organs — typically prone to very rapid decay — can be preserved with such fidelity.
Live Science also has an article.
Researchers have uncovered a never-before-seen fossilized brain from a 310 million-year-old horseshoe crab, revealing some surprises about the evolution of these wannabe crustaceans, according to a new study.
The fossilized brain, which belongs to the extinct species Euproops danae, was discovered at Mazon Creek in Illinois, where the conditions were just right to perfectly preserve the animal's delicate soft tissue.
There are four species of horseshoe crabs alive today — all of which sport hard exoskeletons, 10 legs and a U-shaped head. Despite their name, these "crabs" are actually arachnids that are closely related to scorpions and spiders, according to The National Wildlife Federation. Although horseshoe crab fossils are relatively common, nothing was previously known about their ancient brains, the researchers said.
"This is the first and only evidence for a brain in a fossil horseshoe crab," lead author Russell Bicknell, a paleontologist at the University of New England in Maine, told Live Science. The chances of finding a fossilized brain are "one in a million," he added. "Although, even then, chances are they are even rarer."
