A study from the University of Leicester describes a newly identified fossil species that is 444 million years old, with its soft internal structures remarkably well preserved.
A newly identified fossil species dating back 444 million years has been officially named Keurbos susanae, in honor of the scientist’s mother, affectionately known as Sue.
The discovery, detailed in the journal Paleontology, is the culmination of 25 years of research by a paleontologist from the University of Leicester. The study describes a previously unknown multisegmented organism from the Ordovician period.
An inside-out look at early arthropod anatomy
Lead author Professor Sarah Gabbott from the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment said: “‘Sue’ is an inside-out, legless, headless wonder. Remarkably, her insides are a mineralized time capsule: muscles, sinews, tendons and even guts all preserved in unimaginable detail. And yet her durable carapace, legs, and head are missing – lost to decay over 440 million years ago.”
“We are now sure she was a primitive marine arthropod but her precise evolutionary relationships remain frustratingly elusive.”
Soft tissue is preserved, hard parts lost
Today about 85% of animals on Earth are arthropods, and they include shrimps, lobsters, spiders, mites, millipedes, and centipedes.
They have an excellent fossil record stretching back over 500 million years but usually their fossil remains are of their external features, whereas ‘Sue’ is the complete opposite because it is her insides that are fossilized.
The fossil was found in the Soom Shale, a band of silts and clays at a location 250 miles north of Cape Town in South Africa. These strata were laid down on the seafloor over 440 million years ago at a time when a devastating glaciation had wiped out about 85% of Earth’s species – one of the big five ‘mass extinctions’. It seems that the marine basin in which ‘Sue’ swam was somehow protected from the worst of the freezing conditions and a fascinating community of animals, including ‘Sue’, took refuge there.
Toxic sediment conditions enabled unique fossilization
The conditions in the sediments where Sue came to rest were toxic in the extreme. There was no oxygen but worse than that there was deadly (and stinking) hydrogen sulphide dissolved in the water. The researchers suspect that strange chemical alchemy was at work in creating the fossil and its unusual inside-out preservation.
But there is a downside because the unique preservation of ‘Sue’ makes it difficult to compare her to other fossils of the era and so it remains a mystery how she fits into the evolutionary tree of life.
The small roadside quarry where Professor Gabbott found the fossils 25 years ago at the start of her academic career has all but disappeared and so other specimens are unlikely to be found. The fossil was incredibly difficult to interpret and Professor Gabbott held out hope of finding another specimen with its head or legs intact.
Decades of dedication to an extraordinary fossil
Professor Gabbott adds: “This has been an ultramarathon of a research effort. In a large part because this fossil is just so beautifully preserved there’s so much anatomy there that needs interpreting. Layer upon on layer of exquisite detail and complexity. I’d always hoped to find new specimens but it seems after 25 years of searching this fossil is vanishingly rare – so I can hang on no longer. Especially as recently my mom said to me ‘Sarah if you are going to name this fossil after me, you’d better get on and do it before I am in the ground and fossilized myself’.
“I tell my mom in jest that I named the fossil Sue after her because she is a well-preserved specimen! But, in truth, I named her Sue because my mom always said I should follow a career that makes me happy – whatever that may be. For me that is digging rocks, finding fossils, and then trying to figure out how they lived what they tell us about ancient life and evolution on Earth.”
Reference: “A new euarthropod from the Soom Shale (Ordovician) Konservat-Lagerstätte, South Africa, with exceptional preservation of the connective endoskeleton and myoanatomy” by Sarah E. Gabbott, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Johannes N. Theron and Richard J. Aldridge, 26 March 2025, Papers in Palaeontology.
DOI: 10.1002/spp2.70004
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8 Comments
I Believe in God’s own Creation Not in evolution!
Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
There is no “god” he was an extraterrestrial and if we wne tback in time with our cellphones, we would be “gods” too. I do believe that some things in thw bible are true like the plagues and the great flood. But it was all mis translated and changed by the church…its like the game telephone…everything words gets twisted int what ppl “think” everyone wants to belive in such a fairytale of god. Its in our nature. Just bc we cant explain it DOES NOT MEAN ITS AN ACT OF GOD.
Bruce, evolution is God’s creation.
God is evolution.
You can never have a one one logical, sensible , reasonable discussion debate on the existence of a god, related to the creation of this Planet and, or its biological species.
Évolution his a fait
We all live in a Simulation. We are hybrid ET’s . Isnt it funny that the cultures that worshipped the Sky Gods or ETs just vanished after they strayed. No coincidence. There are many things our ancient sky ancenstors dont want us to know. Like the things many Native or even Indian cultures have passed down.
Life is design, evolution is the doctrine or religion of those who would have no One set rules or even healthy principles to guide conduct. If you believe we just happened into being then thankfulness is not required. The “Theory” of evolution is just that theory, and not supported by evidence.