Scientists confirm jellyfish who existed about 500 million years before early human beings

Scientists have announced the discovery of the oldest species of swimming jellyfish in 505-million-year-old fossils from Burgess Shale in Canada, known for its well-preserved specimens. The new species, named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis, had a bell-shaped body up to 20cm high and around 90 short tentacles for capturing sizable prey.

The first human ancestors appeared between five million and seven million years ago. This means that these jellyfishes existed about 500 million years before first human beings began walking on their to legs in Africa.

Jellyfish belong to the medusozoans subgroup of cnidaria phylum and are 95 per cent water.

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Jellyfish rarely fossilise due to dominant water content and subsequent decay after they die. Jellyfish's evolutionary history has been studied mainly through microscopic fossilised larval stages and molecular studies from living jellyfish, given the rarity of their fossils.

Thereby, the fossils of jellyfish from the late 1980s and early 1990s are being deemed remarkable.

It took many years for paleontologists to pin down a formal description of the fossils. These findings were finally published on Tuesday, August 1, in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Dr Jean-Bernard Caron, a curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum, expressed surprise at the delicate animals found in rock layers on mountain tops.

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"Finding such incredibly delicate animals preserved in rock layers on top of these mountains is such a wondrous discovery," Dr Caron was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Dr Caron added that this finding contributes another remarkable lineage of animals to the Burgess Shale, providing insights into the evolution of life on Earth.

Joe Moysiuk, a co-author and paleontology student at the University of Toronto told The Guardian that the challenge of pinning down jellyfish in the Cambrian fossil record despite their early existence was remarkable.

The discovery of Burgessomedusa phasmiformis reveals a more complex Cambrian food chain than previously believed, confirming that these jellyfish were indeed swimming in that era, according to Moysiuk.

Where these 'ancient seafloor communities' were buried?

A total of 182 fossils of Burgessomedusawere reportedly uncovered in a particular Canadian spot called the Raymond Quarry.

The fossils were not detected for a long time.

"Is it that they tended to live high in the water column, out of reach from the mud flows that buried these ancient seafloor communities?" Moysiuk was quoted as asking in Smithsonian magazine.

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