Brachiopod With All the Bits

A team of scientists have identified and digitally reconstructed the first fossilized brachiopod with all its bits and pieces attached.

Brachiopods, or "lamp shells", are rare today were plentiful in the Paleozoic era - 542 to 251 million years ago.

While they're well represented in the fossil record, this is the first brachiopod fossil discovered with both its pedicle - what it uses to attach itself to the sea floor - and its lophophore - its feeding organ - still attached. Normally only their namesake shells are preserved as fossils.

"This specimen is particularly interesting as several smaller brachiopods have attached themselves to its shell, two of them also preserving pedicles," said Derek Briggs, director of the Yale University Institute of Biospheric Studies.

The reconstruction shows that this extinct brachiopod's pedicle differs from other living species, suggesting that previous assumptions that extinct brachiopods were similar to living species may be incorrect.

This fossil was found among a treasure chest of fossils buried under volcanic ash in the sea near Herefordshire in the United Kingdom. This site is unusual because many of the animals fossilized here have been fully preserved.

This finding is detailed in the Aug. 18 issue of the journal Nature.