‘Inside-Out, Headless Wonder’ Older Than Dinosaurs Discovered in Africa

It’s a good day for Ross Geller. Paleontologists from the University of Leicester spent a quarter-century working to uncover a new species and revealed that they’ve done just that in a paper published in the journal Paleontology.

According to a press release from the university, lead author Professor Sarah Gabbott uncovered a fossil that dates back 444 million years. Incredibly, that timeline predates dinosaurs.

The fossil species, which was found in Soom Shale, South Africa, has been named Keurbos susanae or Sue for short. The fossil’s nickname is a nod to Gabbott’s mother.

“‘Sue’ is an inside-out, legless, headless wonder. Remarkably her insides are a mineralized time-capsule: muscles, sinews, tendons and even guts all preserved in unimaginable detail,” Gabbott said. “And yet her durable carapace, legs and head are missing–lost to decay over 440 million years ago.”

The fossil was “beautifully preserved,” so much so that it took decades to interpret all of its anatomy. During that time, Gabbott worked to go through “layer upon on layer of exquisite detail and complexity.”

So What Is This New Species?

Researchers have concluded that Sue was “a primitive marine arthropod.” However, Gabbott said that the fossil’s “precise evolutionary relationships remain frustratingly elusive.”

Researchers deduced that, hundreds of millions of years ago, Sue took refuge in a marine basin. Sue was protected from freezing conditions there. However, she was also subject to a lack of oxygen and deadly hydrogen sulphide. Those conditions are what led to Sue’s fossil and her inside-out preservation.

Other fossils are unlikely to be found at the quarry where Gabbott discovered Sue 25 years ago. That’s a sad realization for Gabbott. The professor had long hoped that she’d find another specimen with its head or legs intact.

“I’d always hoped to find new specimens but it seems after 25 years of searching this fossil is vanishingly rare—so I can hang on no longer,” Gabbott said. “Especially as recently my mum said to me ‘Sarah if you are going to name this fossil after me, you’d better get on and do it before I am in the ground and fossilized myself.’”

How the Fossil Sue Got Her Name

Gabbott then spoke more about her decision to name the fossil after her mom.

“I tell my mum in jest that I named the fossil Sue after her because she is a well-preserved specimen!” Gabbot said. “But, in truth, I named her Sue because my mum always said I should follow a career that makes me happy—whatever that may be. For me that is digging rocks, finding fossils, and then trying to figure out how they lived and what they tell us about ancient life and evolution on Earth.”