The fossil of the earliest known animal predator has been named after Sir David Attenborough.
The 560-million-year-old specimen is believed to be the earliest creature to have a skeleton, researchers say.
Auroralumina attenboroughii — with the first part of the name being Latin for “dawn lantern” in recognition of its great age and resemblance to a burning torch — was discovered in Charnwood Forest, near Leicester, a city with which Sir David has long-established ties.
The 96-year-old — who used to go fossil hunting in the area and is credited with raising awareness of the presence of Ediacaran fossils in the forest — said he is “truly delighted” to have the creature named after him.
The specimen was found by Roger Mason, after whom Charnia masoni is named.
“It’s generally held that modern animal groups like jellyfish appeared 540 million years ago in the Cambrian explosion,” said Phil Wilby, palaeontology leader at the British Geological Survey and one of the scientists who made the find.
“But this predator predates that by 20 million years.
“It’s the earliest creature we know of to have a skeleton.
“So far, we’ve only found one, but it’s massively exciting to know there must be others out there, holding the key to when complex life began on Earth.”
The study says that the creature is related to a group that includes modern corals, jellyfish and anemones.
In 2007, Dr Wilby and others spent more than a week cleaning a 100-square-metre rock surface with toothbrushes and pressure jets.
After making a rubber mould of the entire surface that captured more than 1,000 fossils, one stood out.
Frankie Dunn of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, said: “This is very different to the other fossils in Charnwood Forest and around the world.
“Most other fossils from this time have extinct body plans and it’s not clear how they are related to living animals.
“This one clearly has a skeleton, with densely packed tentacles that would have waved around in the water capturing passing food, much like corals and sea anemones do today.
“It’s nothing like anything else we’ve found in the fossil record at the time.”
The finding is reported in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
The specs
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Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
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FIGHT INFO
Men’s 60kg Round 1:
Ahmad Shuja Jamal (AFG) beat Krisada Takhiankliang (THA) - points
Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) beat Akram Alyminee (YEM) - retired Round 1
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Bhanu Pratap Pandit (IND) - TKO Round 1
Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
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Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
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