British scientists recently discovered a 560 million-year-old tentacled monster that might be the first-ever predator known to the animal kingdom.
Analysis of the fossil, newly discovered in a cluster of volcanic and sedimentary rocks called the Bradgate Formation in Leicestershire, England, suggests the strange tentacled creature is one of the earliest ever to have a skeleton, according to Live Science. Named for renowned British zoologist Sir David Attenborough, Auroralumina attenboroughii is believed to have fed on plankton and protists, making it the earliest known predator in the animal kingdom, the outlet continued.
Mock-up images of the creature can only be described as a terrifying bowl of chunky fingers who are ready to come out and eat you. (RELATED: ‘Are You Kidding Me? This Is Crazy’: Scientists Stumble Upon Never-Before-Seen Underwater ‘Road’)
Auroralumina attenboroughii – earliest known animal predator #fossil found in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, pushes back evidence of predation among animals by 20M years to 560M & probably 1st example of organism with true skeleton… @BBCNews : https://t.co/SiGRCD7KB0 pic.twitter.com/wIqrERRVLG
— Remy Dean 🏴☠️ (@DeanAuthor) July 25, 2022
The fossil’s existence predates the Cambrian explosion of more than half a billion years ago, when animal species across the Earth rapidly evolved and diversified, Live Science noted. Auroralumina attenboroughii shows the establishment of a crown group of animals, the authors noted in the official study published by Nature.
‘Hidden World’ Discovered Under Antarctic Ice https://t.co/STLtMvApl2
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 22, 2022
“This one clearly has a skeleton, with densely-packed tentacles that would have waved around in the water capturing passing food, much like corals and sea anemones do today,” Oxford University Museum of Natural History spokesman Frankie Dunn told CBS News.
Attenborough is reportedly “truly delighted” that the sea monster was named after him, particularly as the fossil was discovered in Charnwood Forest where he used to go hunting for fossils, CBS noted.