Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery in the Grand Canyon, uncovering fossils of soft-bodied creatures from over 500 million years ago. The find provides a rare glimpse into how early animals lived, fed, and evolved during a time of rapid biological change.
The fossils, discovered in rocks dating back to the Cambrian explosion, are exceptionally preserved and offer clues about the feeding styles used by ancient animals. Researchers found complex structures such as spiky teeth, scraping tools, and feeding limbs, which show how creatures once lived.
Among the most surprising finds were tiny crustaceans resembling modern brine shrimp with hair-like structures and molar-like teeth that allowed them to grind food efficiently. Other fossils showed slug-like mollusks with chains of teeth similar to garden snails, suggesting they scraped algae or bacteria from rocks.
The discovery was led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, who collected rock samples during a 2023 expedition along the Colorado River in Arizona. The team used hydrofluoric acid to dissolve the rocks and uncovered thousands of tiny fossils.
This find sheds light on an ancient ecosystem that helped shape the diversity of life today. “It’s like economics,” said first author Giovanni Mussini. “In times of abundance, animals invest and take risks; in times of scarcity, they save and be conservative.”
The discovery is significant because it provides a clearer image of what life was like during the Cambrian period, a time when many major animal groups first appeared. The full study was published in the journal Science Advances.
(Note: I made some minor changes to make the text more concise and easier to read while retaining all essential information.)
Source: https://www.earth.com/news/500-million-year-old-animal-fossils-in-grand-canyon-goldilocks-zone-early-animal-evolution