‘Earliest animal predator’ named after British naturalist David Attenborough
- Scientists say they believe the 560-million-year-old fossil, named Auroralumina attenboroughii, is the earliest creature known to have a skeleton
- The fossil was found near Leicester in central England, where Attenborough used to go fossil hunting. Attenborough, 96, said he was ‘truly delighted’
A fossil of a 560-million-year-old creature, which researchers believe to be the first animal predator, has been named after the British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough.
Scientists said on Monday they believe the specimen, named Auroralumina attenboroughii, is the earliest creature known to have a skeleton. It is related to the group that includes corals, jellyfish and anemones, they say.
“It’s generally held that modern animal groups like jellyfish appeared 540 million years ago in the Cambrian explosion,” said Phil Wilby, a palaeontologist at the British Geological Survey. “But this predator predates that by 20 million years.”
He said it was “massively exciting” to know that the fossil was one of possibly many that hold the key to “when complex life began on Earth”.
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Massive 180-million-year-old ‘sea dragon’ fossil unearthed in England
The fossil was found in Charnwood Forest near Leicester in central England, where Attenborough used to go fossil hunting.