This 280-million-year-old fossil has such a strange and confusing shape that many people, when they first look at it, will think it is definitely an alien fossil.
An image that recently went viral on social media shows an almost perfectly preserved fossil of a sea creature that lived 280 million years ago. Many people immediately confirmed that it was definitely an alien fossil. But what exactly is this animal?
Jimbacrinus fossils show that they were marine animals that flourished in what is now Western Australia during the Permian period. They grew to a length of about 9 inches.
In fact, the fossil in question belongs to the species Jimbacrinus crinoids, also known as sea lilies, and was found in Western Australia. These marine creatures lived about 280 million years ago, during the Permian period, and their fossils provide valuable information about the evolution and diversity of life on Earth.
Fossils of this species first came to public attention through an image that was widely shared on social media. The image shows them arranged in a group, suggesting they were buried in the sedimentary rocks of their natural habitat. The fossils are believed to have been found near Gascoyne Junction, a remote area of Western Australia known for its geological diversity.
Jimbacrinus has five arms made up of tentacle-like structures. Like all crinoids, it uses these extended arms to feed on small animals and particles in the water. Crinoids have a long history. They were the first echinoderms to appear in the fossil record and have retained their original structure throughout their long history. Crinoids were extremely common during the Paleozoic Era.
When Midwest Times investigated the source of the image, they discovered that it had been posted on the website of a US-based fossil dealer. This dealer claims that the fossil was obtained legally and can be sold to interested buyers. This raises a number of questions about the legal status of fossil collecting and trading in Australia, where laws regarding fossil collecting and selling vary widely from state to state.
David Gear, a representative from the Western Australian Museum, clarified the legal status of fossil collecting in Western Australia. According to Gear, it is legal to collect and export fossils under certain circumstances, but collectors must obtain the necessary permits and follow guidelines for responsible fossil collecting. Gear also stressed the importance of leaving fossils in their natural environment whenever possible, as they provide important scientific data about the history of life on Earth.
Fossils of this alien species were once abundant in the shallow seas that covered much of Western Australia during the Permian period, first discovered in 1949 by the manager of the Jimba Jimba cattle station, where this genus was named. Mr J. Bostock (after whom the species is named) found fossils of Jimbacrinus crinoids in the Cundlego Formation, a sandstone formation created by flood and storm depositions during the Early Permian period, about 275 million years ago.
This geological formation was found along a dry creek bed and contains fossil remains of many species that inhabited the seabed during that time. Interestingly, these fossils are often found complete and have not been discovered anywhere else.
Fossil deposits near Gasocyne Junction provide insight into the extinction events of the Permian Period, at the end of which the “Great Destruction” occurred. This is the largest and most severe of the five known mass extinctions during recorded geological time, resulting in the disappearance from the ocean of more than 90% of all marine species on our planet at the time. Rising global temperatures lead to warmer, more acidic waters, increasing concentrations of methane and metals and severely reducing oxygen levels in the water, making it difficult for marine animals to survive. However, a small percentage of crinoids survived the extinction event and today there are still more than 600 species of crinoids living on our planet.
Another interesting fact is that crinoid fossils served as inspiration for the image of the Sentinel in the movie The Matrix. Although the Sentinels initially had limited functions, they eventually evolved into machines that roamed the underground metropolis in search of humans and Zion ships.
The Jimbacrinus crinoid fossils found near Gascoyne Junction are especially notable because they are the most complete and intact fossil specimens on our planet, which could allow scientists to study soft tissues and their internal structures in more detail.
