[Science] ‘Rule-breaking’ crab fossils have weird shrimp and lobster features – AI

The Chimera crab had a mix of strange featuresOksana Vernygora, University of Alberta By New Scientist staff and Press AssociationFossils of a mixed-up crab from the Cretaceous have perplexed researchers with their bizarre anatomical features. Around 70 of the fossil crabs have been found in the Andes mountain range in Colombia, which was a shallow coastal sea 90 million years ago when these animals were alive. “We started looking at these fossils and we found they had what looked like the eyes of a larva, the mouth of a shrimp, the claws of a frog crab, and the carapace of a lobster,” says Javier Luque, of the University of Alberta, Canada. “We have an idea of what a typical crab looks like – and these new fossils break all those rules.” Advertisement The fossil crabs are about the size of a five pence coinDaniel Ocampo R., Vencejo Films The animal’s strange anatomy has been preserved well, enabling Luque and his colleagues to pick out details such as paddle-like legs and bulging eyes, which suggest the crab spent more time swimming than crawling in the sand. Read more: Giant coconut crab sneaks up on a sleeping bird and kills it The team have named the crab Callichimaera perplexa, which means “perplexing beautiful chimera”. In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a monster with a lion’s head, goat’s body, and snake’s tail. “Callichimaera perplexa is so unique and strange that it can be considered the platypus of the crab world,” says Luque. Journal reference: Science Advances Read more: Pom-pom crabs prune their living decorations like bonsai trees More on these topics: fossils