It turned out that the ancient creature looks like a taco. It's been tried for 100 years

Since its discovery over 100 years ago, Tuzoia is a strange little arthropod that

swam close to the seabed during the Cambrianperiod (from 541 to 485.4 million years ago) has confused paleontologists. The authors of a new study took a fresh look at several of the creature's fossils and learned more about an extinct animal that resembles the taco, the scientists wrote.

Tuzoya was widespread and foundin China, Australia, the Czech Republic and Canada. The 11 specimens studied have small details, such as soft shell tissue, that are not found in other remains. Through careful analysis of various surviving specimens, scientists have reconstructed the appearance of the Cambrian creature.

"Finding soft tissue in the fossil record wasnot easy,” the scientists write. “Tuzoia's shell is not like a hard mollusk shell, so an intact specimen is difficult to detect.” It is also difficult to find individuals with eyes and legs.

The samples used in the study wereare well preserved due to their location in the fossiliferous Burgess Shale sediments of western Canada. There, layers of mudflats that were once marine environments “buried animals,” paleotologists explain.

Researchers believe that Tuzoia wasa predator or scavenger that fed on the remains of dead small creatures scattered on the seabed. The arthropod probably could have arched its shell outward as it moved to make it easier for its limbs to touch the ground and run.

According to a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, Tuzoia can range in size from 8 to 180 mm in length.

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Cover image courtesy of Brittany Cheung

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