Regal Tribune

Sunday, January 17, 2021
Log in
  • National News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Science
  • Health
  • About Regal Tribune

Pages

  • About Regal Tribune
  • Body of Woman Discovered in Gwinnett Place Mall Identified
  • Compulsory Vaccines for Children
  • Contact Us
  • High Tides Are the New Danger in U.S. States
  • Homepage
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Canadian Teen Dies on School Trip from Toxic Shock Syndrome Jun 29, 2018
  • Unesco Removes the Belize Coral Reef from Its List of Endangered Sites Jun 28, 2018
  • Tonight, the Blood Moon Coincides with the Longest Lunar Eclipse of the Century Jun 27, 2018
  • People Are Paying Hundreds of Dollars Just to Own Official Fortnite Disc Copies Jun 27, 2018
  • Researchers Reassess the Fermi Paradox, Showing We’re Probably Alone in the Universe (Study) Jun 26, 2018
  • The Latest Xbox Update Might Bring Keyboard and Mouse Support on the Console Jun 26, 2018
  • Researchers Invent Miraculous Plaster that Effectively Treats Oral Ulcers Jun 25, 2018

520-Million-Year Old Fossil Reveals Oldest Nervous System in the World

Mar 2, 2016 By Jose Buttner Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow

13969994473751396999447375

According to recent findings, the fossil of a 520-million-year old creature has been so well conserved that it still displays its individual nerve fibers.

Researchers have conducted a study on this ancient animal that originated from southern China and they’ve concluded that this fossil displays the oldest central nervous system ever discovered.

Since an animal’s nervous system and soft tissues are composed of degradable substances, most fossils usually reveal bones, as well as other hard body parts, like teeth.

What sets this discovery apart is that it offers a unique insight into what the ancient nervous system looked like. According to the study’s co-author Javier Ortega-Hernandez from the University of Cambridge, this is the most unitary archetype of a central nervous system from the Cambrian time.

The detailed fossil belongs to a creature called Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis, which lived during the Cambrian explosion, a period that saw a rapid evolutionary development.

This event, also known as the Cambrian radiation, occurred some 542 million years ago and it is the time when most major animal phyla surfaced on Earth.

The C. kunmingensis is an anthropod called a fuxhianhuiid, and is basically an ancient cousin of our present-day insects, spiders and crustaceans.

The researchers’ investigation revealed a nerve cord present throughout its body, which resembles the human spinal cord. This animal had a single pair of legs, which were controlled through various bundles of nerve cells.

When the team of scientists analyzed the fossil, they discovered numerous spindly fibers, each of them being about five thousandths of a millimeter long.

Ortega-Hernandez explains that these fragile fibers revealed a regular distribution pattern, which made the researchers want to discover whether they were made from the same fabric as the cells forming the nerve cord.

In order to conduct this study, they used a method called fluorescence microscopy, which offered the scientists an unprecedented amount of information. Through this technique, they were able to confirm that the fibers were indeed individual nerves that had been fossilized as carbon films.

During their analysis they also discovered that certain aspects of this animal’s nervous system resemble the one found in modern velvet worms and penis worms. As it turns out, all of these organisms display regularly spaced nerves, which spread out from the central nerve cord.

According to Ortega-Hernandez, if the scientists discover more of these fossils, then they will be better equipped to understand how the nervous system and early creatures evolved.

The study was published on February 29th in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Image Source: DailySabah

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Science Tagged With: 520-million year fossil, Cambrian period, Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis, fuxhianhuiid, oldest nervous system, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 11 other subscribers

Recent Articles

Starbucks coffee.

California Family to Sue Starbucks over Drinking Coffee with Blood

Feb 11, 2018 By Benjamin Teh Leave a Comment

uber app

Portland Officials Learned Uber Activated Software to Deceive Ride Service Regulators

Sep 16, 2017 By Jose Buttner Leave a Comment

tesla model s

Tesla’s Free Software Upgrade for Drivers Affected by Irma to Expire on Saturday

Sep 12, 2017 By Jose Buttner Leave a Comment

hurricane aftermath

Companies Assess the Economic Toll of Two Hurricanes Hitting the U.S.

Sep 11, 2017 By Lori Martinez Leave a Comment

chipotle restaurant

Chipotle Announced Nationwide Launch for Famous Cheese Sauce, Queso

Sep 6, 2017 By Lori Martinez Leave a Comment

bitcoin coins

China Is the First Nation to React to Initial Coin Offerings

Sep 4, 2017 By Benjamin Teh Leave a Comment

people sheltering from flood

Best Buy Gives Its Apologies for Water Price Gouging after Hurricane Harvey

Sep 2, 2017 By Graziella Paone Leave a Comment

uber driver

Uber Will Quit Surveillance Feature after Riders End Their Trips

Aug 31, 2017 By Benjamin Teh Leave a Comment

uber car

Uber Introduces New Flexible Driver Benefits

Aug 24, 2017 By Graziella Paone Leave a Comment

mountain view

Interior Department Kills Study on Health Hazards of Appalachian Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine

Aug 23, 2017 By Jose Buttner Leave a Comment

volkswagen minibus

Volkswagen Is Bringing Back the Sassy ID Buzz Minibus in Electric Version

Aug 21, 2017 By Benjamin Teh Leave a Comment

howard schultz interview

Starbucks CEO Speaks out about Charlottesville Violence

Aug 19, 2017 By Jose Buttner Leave a Comment

michael o'leary

Ryanair CEO Opposes Collaboration between Lufthansa and Insolvent Rival Air Berlin

Aug 18, 2017 By Lori Martinez Leave a Comment

aldi logo

Aldi Distances Itself from Competitors with New Grocery Delivery System

Aug 14, 2017 By Jose Buttner Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • Blood moon appearing big on the night sky

    Tonight, the Blood Moon Coincides with the Longest Lunar Eclipse of the Century

    Jun 27, 2018
  • The Milky Way seen from Earth

    Researchers Reassess the Fermi Paradox, Showing We’re Probably Alone in the Universe (Study)

    Jun 26, 2018
  • Space junk orbiting around Earth

    Researchers Launch the First Satellite that Picks Up Space Junk from Earth’s Orbit

    Jun 25, 2018
  • Stonehenge at the sunset

    The Theorem of Pythagoras Might Have Been Behind the Building of Stonehenge

    Jun 22, 2018
  • Portrait of Barack Obama in the White House

    Newly Discovered Underwater Fossil Gets Named After Obama (Study)

    Jun 20, 2018
  • Chris Hadfield during his traditional astronaut photoshoot

    Astronaut Chris Hadfield Doesn’t Think Humans Will Get to Mars Too Soon

    Jun 18, 2018
  • Opportunity Rover on the surface of Mars

    NASA’s Opportunity Rover Is Struggling with a Severe Dust Storm on Mars

    Jun 12, 2018
  • Planets orbiting around a red dwarf star

    The Kepler Satellite Spots New Solar System with Planets the Size of Earth

    Jun 11, 2018
  • Rocket launching into space from a cosmodrome

    Russian Astronauts Explain Why They Urinate on a Tire Before Getting Launched into Space

    Jun 8, 2018
  • Pluto as seen during the New Horizons mission

    Researchers Spot Interesting Methane Dunes on Pluto’s Icy Surface (Study)

    Jun 5, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Technology
  • U.S.

Copyright © 2021RegalTribune.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.