Memorial student Helena Muirhead-Hunt discovers Edrathina obditchia fossil in Newfoundland
Technology
A graduate student from Memorial University, Helena Muirhead-Hunt, just found a new fossil species called Edrathina obditchia in Newfoundland.
These fossils are about 551 million years old and come from rocks famous for preserving soft-bodied creatures from the dawn of animal life.
This discovery could give scientists fresh clues about how the earliest animals evolved.
Beothuk named ctenophore fossil suggests link
Edrathina obditchia might finally help bridge a 20-million-year missing link in the ctenophore (comb jelly) fossil record, a big deal for figuring out which animals came first on Earth.
Plus, naming the species after Newfoundland's culturally extinct Beothuk people is a thoughtful nod to local history and Indigenous cultures.