A strange ancient creature was found: it moved on “stilts” and without eyes

Paleontologists recently announced the discovery of an "exceptionally well-preserved" ancient animal in

eastern shore of Lake Simcoe in southern Ontario, Canada, in a quarry. So many marine fossils had already been found there that scientists called the area “Paleo Pompeii.”

The new species was named Tomlinsonusdimitrii and it is part of an extinct group of arthropods known as marrellomorphs. They lived approximately 450 million years ago, during the Ordovician period. It is noteworthy that this ancient species appeared on Earth much earlier than dinosaurs.

Other echinoderm fossils, of which there are manythis area usually contain mineralized body parts. They are more likely to persist over time. But this new species is completely soft-bodied, which makes the discovery all the more startling.

Fossil of Tomlinsonus dimitrii and outline drawing of the specimen. Image courtesy of ROM

The size of the creature is about 6 cm - slightly less than the lengthindex finger. The main feature of T. dimitrii is the feather-like spines on its head. The animal's segmented body resembles that of other arthropods such as insects and spiders. It has several sets of segmented limbs, including one very unusual pair that scientists have compared to stilts. Most likely they were used to move along the seabed. The creature also “appears to be blind, since it has no eyes at all,” scientists note.

A specimen of Tomlinsonus dimitrii is now on display in the Wilner Madge Gallery as part of the museum's exhibitionDawn of life" 

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