Paleontologists in China have discovered the fossil of an ancient sea monster that roamed the depths of the ocean some 520 million years ago, Live Science reported.
The creature, known as Lyrarapaz unguispinus, was so well preserved that parts of its brain could still be seen. It belonged to a marine predator species known as anamalocaridis that lived during the Cambrian Period, when life on Earth flourished with the emergence of complex animals.
News of the discovery was published in the journal Nature.
Scientists say it's unusual to find animals so well preserved because organs decay after death, Reuters reported. But in this case the fossil sediments managed to preserve the Lyrarapaz unguispinus so well that the entire nervous system was still visible in the rock.
"Anomalocaridis preserved with the whole body are very rare. None of them have been reported with the brain," paleontologist Peiyun Cong, of Yunnan University, said according to Reuters.
The shrimp-like species could grow up to 6 feet long and had armor covering their entire bodies. Lyrarapaz unguispinus, however, was no longer than six inches. They also had tails similar to lobsters and two claw-like protrusions in front of the eyes for grasping prey, Live Science reported.
Though they were at the top of the food chain, the species as a whole did not develop brains that were as complex as the animals they hunted. Other animals could have developed larger brains as a way to hide from predators.
"Predation may have in part contributed to the evolution of more elaborate brains that could process more complex ecological cues that might have offered camouflage or other protection," Nicholas Strausfeld, a neuroscientist from the University of Arizona who was a part of the discovery, said according to Reuters.
No direct descendants of anamalocaridis exist today. But researchers say their brains are similar to modern day velvet worms, which crawl around tropical forest floors in the Southern Hemisphere.
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