What a Bizarre Taco-Shaped Sea Creature Can Teach Us About Evolution

Exceptional fossils show how mandibulates were trapping prey in marine ecosystems 500 million years ago.

Researchers have classified the Cambrian marine animal, Odaraia, as a mandibulate based on new fossil evidence. This discovery aids in understanding the evolutionary paths and ecological adaptations during the Cambrian period, emphasizing the importance of the Burgess Shale for paleontological studies.

Discovery and Classification of Odaraia
Paleontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) led a new study that is helping resolve the evolution and ecology of Odaraia, a taco-shaped marine animal that lived during the Cambrian period. Fossils collected by ROM reveal Odaraia had mandibles. Paleontologists are finally able to place it as belonging to the mandibulates, ending its long enigmatic classification among the arthropods since it was first discovered in the Burgess Shale over 100 years ago and revealing more about early evolution and diversification. The study The Cambrian Odaraia alata and the colonization of nektonic suspension-feeding niches by early mandibulates was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences.