The CBC website has recently posted a fascinating article on Tegopelte, an ancient creature known from the Burgess shale soft-bodied fossils. A curator at the ROM has linked a recently discovered fossil trackway to the creature.
SONSI member Marianne Collins provided the illustration of Tegopelte with which the article begins. At the bottom of the article, an awesome little animation of Tegopelte’s moving legs isn’t accredited to an individual, just to U of Saskatchewan/ROM.
Burgess shale fossils are Cambrian, which is to say, mind-bogglingly ancient. The fortuitous combination of events which has allowed scientists to discover, and artists to illustrate, the way a 500-million year old creature moved, is so improbable. This discovery is unique and wonderful.