http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21745029
Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species
Scientists have revealed insights into a peculiar, phallus-shaped creature discovered at a fossil site in Canada.
The animal has been identified as Spartobranchus tenuis, a species from the Cambrian period that was previously unknown to science.
The odd-looking creature was an ancient relative of acorn worms that exist today, according to researchers.
Their study, published in the journal Nature, is the first full description of the prehistoric animal.
Remains of soft-bodied worms were found in the Burgess Shale fossil beds in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada throughout the last century.
But now researchers studying the 505 million years old fossils have for the first time given a detailed insight into the lives of the bizarre beasts.
The prehistoric marine creatures were around the size of an earthworm, "but unlike an earthworm that's segmented from its front end to its back end, these guys just had three distinct body segments," said research team member Dr Christopher Cameron from the University of Montreal, Canada.
The animals' phallus-shaped anatomy consisted of a head, or "muscular proboscis", in front of a short "collar" and ended with "a posterior kind of long wormy tail which has gill slits", Dr Cameron explained. The body ended in a bulbous structure which may have helped it anchor to the sea bed.
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Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species
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Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species
What will the world be like after its ruler is removed?
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Re: Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species
PREHISTORIC DICKWORMS!!!!1!!
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Re: Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species
Here's hoping the interpretation is not fallacious...
Nurse, where the fuck's my cardigan?
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Re: Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species
Paleontologists are always so cocksure.
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