Researchers from Yale University have found evidence of
Edrioasteroids (marine invertebrates from 430 million years ago) having tiny tube
feet. The proof (Proceedings of the Royal Society B) was
found in an unusually well-preserved fossil in the fossil beds of
Herefordshire, England, where an abundance of Edrioasteroids were buried alive
by volcanic ash from the Silurian Period (443-416 million years ago).
"The tube feet are the first things that go" says Colin
Sumrall, University of Tennessee. “The thing that’s so stunning is that they
didn’t rot away.”Tube feet use pressure in the water vascular system to retract and extend their feet. Uses vary from food collection and water or gas filtration.
The Researchers found out using 3-D images (layering cross sections) that the head-end had tiny tube feet that were covered partially by five plates in a pentagonal ring. This analysis revealed that the specimen was a new genus and species named Heropyrgus disterminus with a five-point symmetry in its top part and eight-point symmetry in its body.
Read more about this fascinating story at: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/sea-stars-ancient-echinoderms-nibbled-tiny-tube-feet
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