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Cited by 11Paleontology and Evolutionary BiologyPaleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEvolution and Paleontology Studies

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Earth’s oldest ‘Bobbit worm’ – gigantism in a Devonian eunicidan polychaete

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Eriksson, Mats E., Parry, Luke A., Rudkin, David M.·2017·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/srep43061PMC PMC5318920
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Abstract

Whilst the fossil record of polychaete worms extends to the early Cambrian, much data on this group derive from microfossils known as scolecodonts. These are sclerotized jaw elements, which generally range from 0.1–2 mm in size, and which, in contrast to the soft-body anatomy, have good preservation potential and a continuous fossil record. Here we describe a new eunicidan polychaete,Websteroprion armstrongi gen. et sp. nov., based primarily on monospecific bedding plane assemblages from the Lower-Middle Devonian Kwataboahegan Formation of Ontario, Canada. The specimens are preserved mainly as three-dimensional moulds in the calcareous host rock, with only parts of the original sclerotized jaw walls occasionally present. This new taxon has a unique morphology and is characterized by an unexpected combination of features seen in several different Palaeozoic polychaete families.Websteroprion armstrongi was a raptorial feeder and possessed the largest jaws recorded in polychaetes from the fossil record, with maxillae reaching over one centimetre in length. Total body length of the species is estimated to have reached over one metre, which is comparable to that of extant ‘giant eunicid’ species colloquially referred to as ‘Bobbit worms’. This demonstrates that polychaete gigantism was already a phenomenon in the Palaeozoic, some 400 million years ago.

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Metadata

Authors
Eriksson, M. E., Parry, L. A., & Rudkin, D. M.
Affiliations
  • Lund University (SE)
  • Natural History Museum (GB)
  • Royal Ontario Museum (CA)
Corresponding author
Eriksson, Mats E.
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-02-21
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
43061-43061
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/srep43061
PMC
PMC5318920
OpenAlex
W2590721021
Cited by
11
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2017: 2
FWCI
0.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
  • Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Palaeontological Association
  • Vetenskapsrådet (2015-05084)
  • Natural Environment Research Council (1374103)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
Keywords
Devonian, scolecodonts, raptorial feeding, new genus and species, fossil polychaetes, body size evolution
MeSH terms
Animals, Biological Evolution, Fossils, Ontario, Polychaeta

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