Remains of alien-like creature with spines and flailing appendages are discovered in North American

Scientists have discovered the fossils of a spiked alien that lived in Canada more than 500 million years ago.

The creature, called a lobopodian, was among 10,000 fossils found in the Tulip Beds in Yoho National Park in 1983, but had not been identified until now.

The creature had a long body and short legs with spikes protruding from its back, while appendages resembling feathers grew on the front of its body.

Researchers still don’t know how these sea creatures evolved over the millennia, but speculated that as the amount of oxygen on the Earth’s surface increased, the creatures were forced to grow and evolve to survive.

The creature, named Lobopodian, was among 10,000 fossils found in the Tulip Beds in Yoho National Park in 1983, but had not been identified until now.

Researchers from the Royal Ontario Museum have identified 50 new species so far since discovering the marine graveyard, including one shaped like a tulip that gave the site its name in 2012.

Now, more than forty years after scientists stumbled upon the fossils, they reported that the lobopods, also called Entothyreos synnaustrus, were about two inches long and had eleven lobopods, or appendages.

The study, published in the Journal of Systematic Paleontologyreported that half of the creature’s lobopods were “long and slender,” and the rest were “sturdier” and cone-shaped.

Their long appendages were covered in “very short spines” and had two rows of “very long” and “curved chevron-shaped, claw-like spines,” the study said.

Lobopodian’s fossils revealed that different parts of its body were intended to perform different functions, similar to arthropods: an invertebrate such as an insect, spider or crustacean.

According to researchers, the animal’s hind limbs were probably used for protection. The long appendages may have allowed the lobopodian’s body to be held upright.

It also likely allowed for suspension feeding, which is when an animal captures and ingests food particles suspended in water, including phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacteria.

This creature could have evolved as part of the Cambrian explosion that occurred about 530 million years ago during the Paleozoic era.

During that era there was a large increase in the amount of habitable space on the seabed, which lasted between 13 and 25 years, allowing marine animals to thrive and encouraging the increase in animal diversity.

“The Cambrian explosion is one of the most important events in the history of life on our planet, making animals the most visible part of the planet’s marine ecosystems,” said Professor Harper, professor of palaeontology at the University of Durham, said in 2013.

Researchers first discovered the fossil site (pictured) in 1983 and have since identified more than 50 new species

The lobopodian, also called entothyreos synnaustrus, was about two inches long and had eleven lobopods, or appendages.

‘It would be naive to think that a single cause has caused this phenomenal explosion of animal life.

‘Instead, a chain reaction involving a number of biological and geological factors was set off, escalating the planet’s diversity in a relatively short time interval.

‘The Cambrian explosion set the stage for much of the subsequent marine life that built on cascading and nested feedback loops, linking organisms and their environments, and first evolved some 520 million years ago.’

What caused the Cambrian explosion is still unknown, but some researchers have said that rising oxygen levels allowed larger, more complex animals, such as the lobopods, to emerge.

After the explosion, the animals began to develop vision, legs and predator-prey relationships due to increased competition.

‘It is the time when most of the dozens of large animal body plans first appear in the fossil record and diversify,’ says Dr Greg Edgecombe, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum, London, said.

‘But it’s actually more than that… It’s a time of innovation and diversification of body plans, but it’s also an ecological phenomenon, as life responded to changing environmental conditions.’