Giant worm from 400 million years ago discovered… in a museum

A fossil found in the museum’s collection contains the remains of a giant insect. It was named Websteroprion armstrongi. He was the owner of the largest jaws ever observed by researchers in this kind of creature. The fossilized jaws are more than a centimeter long and can be admired with the naked eye. For this type of creature, this organ is usually only a few millimetersów.

Paleontologists from the University of Bristol and Lund University are behind the discovery. Researchers based on the sizeóIn the jaws, because they are the only ones accurately preserved on the fossil, they determined the size of the insect. It turns out that móhead to be even a meter long. He belonged to the creatures we know as polychaetes.

Fossil, która was rediscovered in a Canadian museum, it ended up there in the 1990s. It was excavated by Derek K. Armstrong working for the Ontario Geological Survey.

Websteroprion armstrongi was named after its discoverer, Armstrong. However, the first part of the name may surprise. He refers to the gigantism of the discovered creature. In this wayóhe authors wanted to honor bass guitarist from the deathmetal band Cannibal Corps – Alex Webster, whoóry according to them was a giant guitar.

– Websteroprion armstrongi is a unique example of gigantism in polychaetesów. Gigantism is a poorly understood phenomenon in wormsóin the marine. It has never been observed in a worm beforeóin the fossil – said Mats Ericsson of Lund University.