Posted on 03/14/2013 7:40:12 AM PDT by JoeProBono
A phallus-shaped worm that lived 505 million years ago is heads above the rest—it’s a “missing link” between two lineages of acorn worms, a new study says.
Dubbed Spartobranchus tenuis, the odd creature is a type of soft-bodied marine animal that’s rarely preserved in the fossil record. The new specimen was first discovered in the early 1900s in an area called the Burgess Shale, a fossil-rich area in Canada‘s Yoho National Park.But the fossil went mostly unnoticed until a few years ago, when evolutionary biologist Jean-Bernard Caron of the University of Toronto “stumbled on drawers full of these worms” at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I noticed a lot of these worms in bizarre-shaped rings, like mini Michelin tires in the rock,” said Caron, a co-author of the study.
After Caron and colleagues looked more closely at the fossils, they realized the newfound worm “really connects a lot of dots” in the evolution of hemichordates.Solving an Evolutionary Puzzle
Hemichordates, a group of marine invertebrates that includes S. tenuis, are closely related to modern starfish and sea urchins, as well as to chordates, or animals with backbones—such as primates.
I have a pretty good idea where its brain is located.
Well, at least we know what religion they probably are.
You, Joe! Photo looks like "congress is in session!"
When first viewing the Dubbed SparticusBranchiness Tennis worm fossil Dr. Vilehelm Martin St. StuBen Eaton slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “It’s so simple...dots...circles...dots, why didn’t I see the acorns evolving into oaks.”
“I don’t know sir, but it looks like a giant...”
“DICK”
“Yaa”
“take a look out at starboard”
“OH ma God, it looks like a huge...”
“PECKER, wait, that’s not a wood pecker, it looks like someone’s...”
“PRIVATES, we have reports of an Unidentified Flying Object, it is a long smooth shaft, complete with...”
“TWO BALLS, what is that? That looks just like an enormous...”
“WANG, pay attention”
“I was distracted by that enormous flying...”
“WILLIE, what’s that?”
“Well it looks like a giant...”
“JOHNSON”
“Yes Sir”
“Get on the hold of the British intelligence and let them know about this”
(((( g-g-g-g-faw ))))
“where its brain is located”
That might also explain why it went extinct...
These must have been Jewish worms..........
Oh my gosh. Evolutionists have found their missing link! : )
“Heh. Get a load at that guy. He can only coil it once!”
They didn’t say it went extinct. They said it was our ‘missing link’.
I.e. earliest known form of man!
It was having trouble getting laid, so it grew legs.
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks JoeProBono. |
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