The 'Cambrian explosion', just over 500 million years ago, was a burst of evolution during which most kinds of animals we see today first appeared in the fossil record. They were, however, accompanied by a large number of creatures whose lineages were destined to disappear. Among these were the lobopodians, creatures vaguely related to modern arthropods and the velvet worms of tropical forests, and which — like velvet worms — looked more like worms with legs. Lobopodians came in a variety of bizarre forms, and the discovery of a lobopodian from the Cambrian of China adds to this group. It looked like a thin, flexible worm with oddly inappropriate, chunky, armoured legs. It is claimed that this creature was, however, the closest known fossil relative of modern arthropods, suggesting that the process of acquiring the robust external skeleton characteristic of the group started with the legs, and worked upwards from there.
- Jianni Liu
- Michael Steiner
- Xingliang Zhang
