The fossil was found in Charnwood Forest near Leicester in central England, where David Attenborough goes fossil hunting.
A fossil of a 560-million-year-old creature that researchers believe was the first predator has been named after British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough.
According to the scientists, the sample, named Auroralumina attenboroughii, is the “oldest creature known to have a skeleton. It is related to the group that includes corals, jellyfish and anemones.”
“It is believed that modern groups of animals, such as jellyfish, appeared 540 million years ago in the Cambrian explosion,” said Dr. Phil Wilby, a paleontologist at the British Geological Survey. “But this predator predates it by 20 million years.”
He said it was “very exciting” to learn that the fossil is one of many that may hold the key to “when complex life began on Earth”.
The fossil was found in Charnwood Forest near Leicester in central England, where David Attenborough goes fossil hunting.
The 96-year-old said he was “really happy”.
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