Imagine being able to look inside a larva that is 520 million years old, with parts of the brain, internal organs, soft tissue and nervous system intact. That is what a group of&nbsp;scientists from Britain's Natural History Museum were able to do. The extremely well-preserved fossil was found in China.

It lived in the Cambrian period, known for the explosion of life on Earth. Fossils from this period will give clues into how life evolved on our green planet.

The larva belongs to a species classified as Youti Yuanshi, a prehistoric arthropod, whose current ancestores include insects, centipedes and crabs.&nbsp;

Youti is believed to have lived on the ocean floor during the Cambrian period.&nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;Earth slows down by 1.33 milliseconds

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At four millimetres long, the larva fossil discovered in China's Yu’anshan Formation is smaller than a grain of rice.&nbsp;

Its internal structure was revealed in fine detail through X-ray computed tomography. 
The larva had a pair of tiny legs, a highly developed head, a complex brain and a digestive tract, the Natural History Museum said in a release.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/these-animals-first-came-into-existence-on-earth-not-15bn-years-ago-but-745424">Also read |&nbsp;THESE animals first came into existence on Earth not 1.5bn years ago but...</a>

The larva's organ systems "are preserved in 3D, offering a remarkable comparison to the carbonaceous compression fossils found in the Burgess Shale [in Canada]," said 
Emma Long, co-lead author of the study which was published in Nature journal. "Youti provides a framework for interpreting these flattened fossils, enabling us to better understand the complex organ systems of these early animals".

(With inputs from agencies)

Imagine being able to look inside a larva that is 520 million years old, with parts of the brain, internal organs, soft tissue and nervous system intact. That is what a group of scientists from Britain's Natural History Museum were able to do.

Imagine being able to look inside a larva that is 520 million years old, with parts of the brain, internal organs, soft tissue and nervous system intact. That is what a group of scientists from Britain's Natural History Museum were able to do. The extremely well-preserved fossil was found in China. It lived in the Cambrian period, known for the explosion of life on Earth. Fossils from this period will give clues into how life evolved on our green planet. The larva belongs to a species classified as Youti Yuanshi, a prehistoric arthropod, whose current ancestores include insects, centipedes and crabs. Youti is believed to have lived on the ocean floor during the Cambrian period. Watch: Earth slows down by 1.33 milliseconds At four millimetres long, the larva fossil discovered in China's Yu’anshan Formation is smaller than a grain of rice. Its internal structure was revealed in fine detail through X-ray computed tomography. The larva had a pair of tiny legs, a highly developed head, a complex brain and a digestive tract, the Natural History Museum said in a release. Also read | THESE animals first came into existence on Earth not 1.5bn years ago but... The larva's organ systems "are preserved in 3D, offering a remarkable comparison to the carbonaceous compression fossils found in the Burgess Shale [in Canada]," said Emma Long, co-lead author of the study which was published in Nature journal. "Youti provides a framework for interpreting these flattened fossils, enabling us to better understand the complex organ systems of these early animals". (With inputs from agencies)

This larva fossil from 520 million years ago is so well-preserved, scientists could see its brain

Modern humanity's ancestors were on the brink of extinction some 900,000 years ago, reduced to a breeding population of barely 1,300 individuals due to climate change.

Modern humanity's ancestors were on the brink of extinction some 900,000 years ago, reduced to a breeding population of barely 1,300 individuals due to climate change. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the population decline and mass migration of humans out of Africa have a connection to a common denominator, the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Earth's climate change underwent a drastic turmoil, wiping out several species during this time. It's hard to reconstruct the movement of early humans into and across Europe and Asia from Africa. The shreds of evidence (bones and stone artefacts) suggest that it wasn't one event but multiple waves. Two recent studies have found that human migration caused a population bottleneck through different types of analysis. While one studied early archaeological sites in Eurasia and dated the bottleneck to 1.1 million years ago, the other was a close analysis of the human genome that found a population bottleneck that caused a loss of genetic diversity some 900,000 years ago. Geologists Giovanni Muttoni of the University of Milan and Dennis Kent of Columbia University tried to narrow down the bottleneck's timing. They re-evaluated records of sites of early hominid habitation across Eurasia. They discovered a group of sites reliably dated to 900,000 years ago. ALSO READ | Scientists harness food by-products to fight antimicrobial resistance According to the genomic data and the dating of the hominid sites, the population bottleneck and the migration were concurrent. Global ocean levels dropped during the mid-Pleistocene transition, causing Africa and Asia to dry out. However, the falling sea levels opened up land routes in Eurasia. According to the researchers' model, the hominids would've skedaddled. The researchers carefully note that hominids had migrated previously. But around 900,000 years ago, there was a population bottleneck in the ancestor of modern Homo sapiens due to a climate upheaval that was occurring at the same time as their migration. "We suggest that the enhanced aridity during marine isotope stage 22 that caused the spread of savanna and arid zones across much of continental Africa pushed early Homo populations in Africa to adapt or migrate to avoid extinction," they write in their paper. "Rapid migration in response to a severe climate trigger and concomitant means to escape is what can account for the … migration out-of-Africa at 0.9 million years ago and contribute to the modern genomic evidence in modern African populations of the bottleneck," they added. (With inputs from agencies)

Climate change reduced ancient humans to mere 1,300 people some 900,000 years ago

When we chew food, our lower jaw moves. The upper jaw is completely immobile and fully fused with our skull. But some modern birds like chickens, ducks etc can also move their upper jaw. Such a mouth is versatile as with it these birds are able to perform some relatively dextrous functions.&nbsp;

It has been a general agreement that 'neognaths' or birds which are able to move both jaws developed this ability relatively recently in evolutionary history. But a CT scan of a toothed bird fossil has upended this understanding.

This bird lived 66.7 million years ago, just before an asteroid wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs. Researchers have found that this bird, Janavis finalidens, was able to move both its jaws. This has provided evidence to researchers that ability to move both jaws predated advent of modern birds.&nbsp;

“The assumption has always been … that the ancestral condition for all modern birds was this fused-up condition typified by ostriches and their relatives just because it seems simpler and more reminiscent of non-bird reptiles,”said Dr Daniel Field, senior author of the research from the University of Cambridge. He was quoted by The Guardian.&nbsp;

The research has been published in scientific journal Nature.&nbsp;

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.

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When we chew food, our lower jaw moves. The upper jaw is completely immobile and fully fused with our skull. But some modern birds like chickens, ducks etc can also move their upper jaw.

When we chew food, our lower jaw moves. The upper jaw is completely immobile and fully fused with our skull. But some modern birds like chickens, ducks etc can also move their upper jaw. Such a mouth is versatile as with it these birds are able to perform some relatively dextrous functions. It has been a general agreement that 'neognaths' or birds which are able to move both jaws developed this ability relatively recently in evolutionary history. But a CT scan of a toothed bird fossil has upended this understanding. This bird lived 66.7 million years ago, just before an asteroid wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs. Researchers have found that this bird, Janavis finalidens, was able to move both its jaws. This has provided evidence to researchers that ability to move both jaws predated advent of modern birds. “The assumption has always been … that the ancestral condition for all modern birds was this fused-up condition typified by ostriches and their relatives just because it seems simpler and more reminiscent of non-bird reptiles,”said Dr Daniel Field, senior author of the research from the University of Cambridge. He was quoted by The Guardian. The research has been published in scientific journal Nature. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Jaw-dropping: Study of toothed bird fossil leads to insight into structure of birds' beaks

Palaeontologists in Argentina have unearthed the fossilized remains of what could be the largest dinosaur to ever roam the planet some 98-million years ago.

Dinosaur remains found in Argentina could be world's largest

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