Predation began 20 million years earlier than the Cambrian explosion
The discovery of Auroralumina attenboroughii reveals that predatory animals were using specialized stinging cells to hunt prey 20 million years before the famous Cambrian explosion began.
Auroralumina attenboroughii, a fossil discovered in England's Charnwood Forest, represents the earliest known crown-group predator in the animal kingdom. Dating back 557 to 562 million years, this 5-centimeter-long cnidarian possessed skeletal structures and stinging cells called nematocysts, similar to those found in modern jellyfish. Its presence proves that complex hunting strategies had already evolved during the Ediacaran period, long before the rapid diversification of life 541 million years ago.
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