Authors
Abderrazak El Albani, Arnaud Mazurier, Gregory D Edgecombe, Abdelfattah Azizi, Asmaa El Bakhouch, Harry O Berks, El Hafid Bouougri, Ibtissam Chraiki, Philip CJ Donoghue, Claude Fontaine, Robert R Gaines, Mohamed Ghnahalla, Alain Meunier, Alain Trentesaux, John R Paterson
Publication date
2024/6/28
Journal
Science
Volume
384
Issue
6703
Pages
1429-1435
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
Knowledge of Cambrian animal anatomy is limited by preservational processes that result in compaction, size bias, and incompleteness. We documented pristine three-dimensional (3D) anatomy of trilobites fossilized through rapid ash burial from a pyroclastic flow entering a shallow marine environment. Cambrian ellipsocephaloid trilobites from Morocco are articulated and undistorted, revealing exquisite details of the appendages and digestive system. Previously unknown anatomy includes a soft-tissue labrum attached to the hypostome, a slit-like mouth, and distinctive cephalic feeding appendages. Our findings resolve controversy over whether the trilobite hypostome is the labrum or incorporates it and establish crown-group euarthropod homologies in trilobites. This occurrence of moldic fossils with 3D soft parts highlights volcanic ash deposits in marine settings as an underexplored source for exceptionally …
Scholar articles
A El Albani, A Mazurier, GD Edgecombe, A Azizi… - Science, 2024