Скачать или смотреть Gilsonicaris, not an Early Devonian anostracan crustacean but a polychaete annelid

This video summarizes the research performed by Pierre Gueriau, Luke A. Parry and Nicolas Rabet and published in a scientific article published on August 30Th 2023, in Biology Letters.

The star of the show is a ~400-million-year-old fossil called Gilsonicaris rhenanus that has been recovered during the mining of roof tiles in Bundenbach, southeastern Germany, and described by Belgian paleontologist Victor Van Straelen in 1943. Gilsonicaris rhenanus is known from a single specimen, a 16-mm-long segmented animal, housed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Brussels, Belgium) under the accession number IRSNB a11647.

Since its initial description this fossil has perplexed paleontologists who have alternatively interpreted it as an anostracan crustacean (‘fairy or brine shrimp’), a myriapod, or even a part of a starfish arm. Using a 3D X-ray scanner, the team resolved this 80-year-old mystery by revealing that Gilsonicaris is, in fact, a polychaete annelid (‘bristle worm’). This discovery unequivocally dismisses the existence of marine anostracans 400 million years ago, while also offering a wealth of new information regarding the early evolutionary history of bristle worms and their soft tissues.

The video showcases the main findings of the scientific article, including a virtual journey through the fossil and animated 3D renderings.

This work was made possible through financial support from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (as part of the 2014 call for projects of the 'ATM Formes') and NERC (Independent Research Fellowship grant no. NE/W007878/1).

Reference:
Gueriau P., Parry L.A. & Rabet N. 2023. Gilsonicaris from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück slate is a eunicidan annelid and not the oldest crown anostracan crustacean. Biology Letters 19: 20230312
The article can be found at the following URL: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/ful...

Credits
Editing: Pierre Gueriau
3D animation: Quentin Gueriau
Texts: Pierre Gueriau
Photos: Pierre Gueriau & Jean-François Cart