Artifact reveals a specimen of the ancient fish species Dorsetichthys bechei trapped by the tentacles of a Clarkeiteuthis montefiorei (ancestor of the squid we know today).
An electrifying fight between prey and predator can be seen in a 200 million-year-old fossil, according to scientists at the University of Plymouth, UK. The finding was shared in a study published in early May in the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association.
According to the researchers, the artifact was found in the 19th century on the south coast of England and is part of the collection of the British Geological Survey in Nottingham. In a recent analysis, the team realized that the fossil shows a specimen of the ancient fish species Dorsetichthys bechei trapped by the tentacles of a Clarkeiteuthis montefiorei (ancestor of today’s squid).
The scientists explain that the position of the predator’s “arms”, next to the fish’s body, suggests that the hunt was in fact taking place when the organisms were fossilized. They do not know, however, how the animals ended up fossilized during the predation event.
“This is a most unusual if not extraordinary fossil as predation events are only very occasionally found in the geological record,” said study leader Malcolm Hart in a statement. “It points to a particularly violent attack which ultimately appears to have caused the death, and subsequent preservation, of both animals.”
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