Bizarre Creature Found in 200 Million Year Old Cocoon

Greetings, ATS!

Discovery News is reporting that a "bizarre" creature has been discovered that dates back 200 million years.

The creature, eventually identified as the ciliate Vorticella, was apparently trapped in the mucus from a leech, thus preserving the soft-bodied animal until its discovery.

Here is a description of the creature:

This bell animal lived during the Late Triassic Period, when the Earth was much warmer, with dense rain forests flourishing along what is today the Transantarctic Mountain Range where it was found. At the time, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana, though it was still located at high latitudes.

Past research has suggested this coiled stalk, which is used to attach to substrates, may be one of the fastest cellular engines known, changing from a telephone wire-like structure to a tight coil at a speed of about 8 centimeters (3.1 inches) per second -- the equivalent of a human being walking the across more than three football fields in one second

Here's a pic of the little critter


Enjoy!

reply to post by smyleegrl


Wonderful discovery and thank you for the topic!
S+F!

Originally posted by smyleegrl
Greetings, ATS!

Discovery News is reporting that a "bizarre" creature has been discovered that dates back 200 million years.

The creature, eventually identified as the ciliate Vorticella, was apparently trapped in the mucus from a leech, thus preserving the soft-bodied animal until its discovery.

Here is a description of the creature:

This bell animal lived during the Late Triassic Period, when the Earth was much warmer, with dense rain forests flourishing along what is today the Transantarctic Mountain Range where it was found. At the time, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana, though it was still located at high latitudes.

Past research has suggested this coiled stalk, which is used to attach to substrates, may be one of the fastest cellular engines known, changing from a telephone wire-like structure to a tight coil at a speed of about 8 centimeters (3.1 inches) per second -- the equivalent of a human being walking the across more than three football fields in one second

Here's a pic of the little critter

Enjoy!

My first impression when seeing this was this


A Virus

reply to post by Violater1


I can see the resemblance, for sure...

sorry bit off topic but always annoys me how interesting threads like this get no attention but yet the " my mom turned into a zombie threads " get like a bazillion stars n flags . c`mon people .

That is really cool. That thing is so weird! It is mind blowing when things like this are found and that they existed 200 milliomn years ago.

It makes "me" think..what the heck was going on! Where did (how did) something like this evolve? Just chance? a real find!

Great find.
Thanks for the thread. It is always interesting to see a little bit of our past trapped, somehow whole, in one way or another.

Looks like a zombie bug takes over leaches so leaches would attach to the head and the zombie bug goes into the brain hehe.
excellent find, finding an ancient treasure.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Thanks for the find.
I actually learned something instead of having to prove something today.

reply to post by shambles84


"my mom turned into a zombie threads" haha Dam, must have missed those gems.

reply to post by homeslice


i wish there were threads like that

That's interesting. Thank you for sharing.

yep were truly living on an alienlike world. Just imagine what els happend and lived on this planet, truly amazing. compared to the earth humans have been here only for a short time, but we have made the biggest impact ever since.

heck, a double post, haven't had one for long time

reply to post by smyleegrl


Thanks for this. I guess I missed everything about the Triassic period. Never heard of Gondwana or Laurasia.

reply to post by shambles84


since you put it that way. S&F

Originally posted by homeslice
reply to post by shambles84

 

"my mom turned into a zombie threads" haha Dam, must have missed those gems.

Haha.
Look at smyleegirls signature!

Those 'chick's' taste like chicken.

Neat looking creature. It does look like a virus. Makes one wonder what else is stuck in the mud waiting to be discovered. lol.

It's refreshing to see such interesting things. S&F!!!

this is a topic that always interest me , just amazing to think that this critter was alive and wriggeling 200million years ago ! i noticed that it said it was trapped in the mucus of a leech , i wonder what the leech was like

cool pic , dose look a lot like a virus lol

thanks for sharing

rascal

if its a virus maby thats what did away with dinosaurs