Two ancient marine molluscs with unique, spiky “hairstyles” have been discovered at a UK site. The fossils, which date back 430 million years, were found in the Herefordshire Lagerstätte and belong to a group of molluscs known as Aculifera. Mark Sutton from Imperial College London and his team discovered these finds.
Sutton notes that while some people may view molluscs negatively, they are one of life’s major branches. The fossils were so delicate that researchers couldn’t crack open the stone without damaging them.
To study the structures inside the rock, Sutton and his colleagues used X-ray scans to visualize the contents. They then took thin slices of the material, photographed each layer, and assembled the images to create a 3D picture of the organisms.
The discovered creatures were worm-like animals approximately 2 centimetres long with long spines.
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2463193-punk-and-emo-fossils-rock-our-ideas-of-how-ancient-molluscs-looked