Scientists have discovered the fossil remains of a 430-million-year-old crustacean previously unknown to science _ a proto-shrimp that they're naming in honor of British naturalist and television personality David Attenborough. The new species, described in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, could shed fresh light on crustacean evolution.
Cascolus ravitis may not sound like the name of the 90-year-old Attenborough, famed for his work on "Life on Earth" and other well-known documentary series, but look closely: Cascolus, a blend of the Latin castrum ("stronghold") and colus ("dwelling in"), is inspired by the naturalist's surname, which has Middle and Old English roots).
The species name, ravitis, is also partly in honor of the University of Leicester campus, where Attenborough grew up while his father served as principal of what was then called University College Leicester. Ravitis is a blend of the Latin Ratae (the Romans' name for Leicester), vita ("life"), and commeatis ("messenger"). The blend appears to allude to the broadcaster, who, in his instantly recognizable voice, has long communicated the wonders of the natural world to the public.
C. ravitis was found in the deposits of volcanic ash that eventually became rock in present day Herefordshire. Given the specimen's extremely high quality, with multiple limbs and even soft tissue such as eyes and antennae preserved, the researchers were able to construct a "virtual fossil' that allowed them to examine it in three dimensions.
This proto-shrimp was tiny _ the entire specimen is just 8.9 millimeters long; its widest point is its head shield, measuring 1.3 millimeters wide. This little critter had a long, segmented body with several "biramous" (or two-branched) limbs, which are typical of crustaceans today. It featured rows of strange, petal-shaped appendages, which scientists think probably helped it both to swim and to breathe in the ancient sea, some 100-200 meters beneath the water.
"Their relatively large surface area would presumably facilitate efficient oxygen uptake," the study authors wrote.
Based on its features, the scientists concluded that C. ravitis is a malacostracan, making it an ancient relative to today's lobsters, crabs and shrimp _ one that may help shed light on this part of the crustacean family tree.
"Cascolus provides important clues into the morphological evolution of the sister-taxon of Eumalacostraca and of the Malacostraca, one of the major groups of Crustacea," the study authors wrote.
