The oldest starfish in the world, dating back 480 million years, is discovered in Morocco and offers the “missing link” between modern crinoids and their ancestors.
- The fossil specimen was unearthed from shale rock in the Anti-Atlas Mountains
- Experts have named the newly identified species “Cantabrigiaster fezouataensis”
- It had five feathered arms, which were wider than those found on modern starfish
- The discovery could help shed light on how starfish and related animals have evolved.
A fossil starfish discovered in Morocco, dating back 480 million years, is a “missing link” between modern crinoids and their ancestors, a study reported.
Cambridge experts say the fossil – discovered from the so-called Fezouata shale in the Anti-Atlas mountain range – is the oldest known starfish.
It dates back to a period in Earth’s history – the so-called Ordovician Biodiversity event – when life suddenly expanded.
The previous competitor for the oldest recorded starfish was 50 million years younger, the researchers said.
Given the scientific name “Cantabrigiaster fezouataensis”, the ancient species has a complicated design, with feathered arms still visible in its fossil specimens.
The beautifully preserved remains will allow paleontologists to harass the body of the new species in detail – and shed light on how the starfish evolved.
A (illustrated) fossil starfish discovered in Morocco, dating back 480 million years, is a “missing link” between today’s crinoids and their ancestors, a study reported
“Finding this missing link to their ancestors is incredibly interesting,” said evolutionary paleoecologist Aaron Hunter of Cambridge University.
“If you went back in time and put your head under the sea in Ordovician, then you would not recognize any of the marine organisms – except for the starfish, they are one of the first modern animals.”
According to researchers, C. fezouataensis does not have about 60% of the body plane characteristics of a modern starfish – looking instead like a hybrid between a starfish and a crinoid, or “sea lily”.
Sea lilies are filters with wavy arms that resemble plants in that they are attached to the seabed by a cylindrical “stem”.
“The level of detail in the fossil is amazing – its structure is so complex that it took us a while to reveal its significance,” said Dr. Hunter.
In their study, Dr. Hunter and his colleague Javier Ortega-Hernandez – formerly from Cambridge and now based at Harvard University in the United States – examined a catalog of hundreds of starfish-like animals along with C. fezouataensis.
They indexed all their body characteristics to assess how the fossil species was related to the other members of the “echinoderm” family – a diverse group, including sea cucumbers and starfish.
Like most modern species, the fossil has five times its symmetry – but this ancestral shape had wide arms that had almost a pentagonal outline.
The team intends to expand its work in search of other early echinoderms.
Cantabrigiaster fezouataensis dates back to a time in Earth’s history – the so-called Ordovician biodiversity event – when life suddenly expanded
According to researchers, C. fezouataensis does not have about 60% of the body plane characteristics of a modern starfish – looking instead like a hybrid between a starfish and a “sea lily”.
“One thing we hope to address in the future is why starfish have developed their five arms,” said Dr. Hunter.
“It seems to be a stable form to take – but we still don’t know why.”
“We need to keep looking for the fossil that gives us that special connection – but going back to early ancestors, like Cantabrigiaster, we’re getting closer to that answer.”
The full results of the study were published in the journal Biology Letters.
“Finding this missing link to their ancestors is incredibly interesting,” said evolutionary paleoecologist Aaron Hunter of Cambridge University. In the image, researchers hunt starfish fossils in the Fezouata shale (left) in the Anti-Atlas Mountains (right)
Cambridge experts say the fossil – discovered from a location (highlighted) in the so-called Fezouata shale in the Anti-Atlas mountain range – is the oldest known starfish