Extinct 'mega claw' creature had spider-like brain
Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - 13:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Scientists have discovered the earliest known complete nervous system exquisitely preserved in the fossilized remains of a never-before described creature that crawled or swam in the ocean 520 million years ago. The find solves a long-standing debate as to when the ancestors of chelicerates -- spiders and their kin -- made their first appearance and provides evidence that their biting mouthparts evolved from the claw-like appendages of a long-extinct group known as megacheirans.