A rocky surface in Upper Island Cove is continuing to reveal the secrets of early life on Earth – not the least of which is the fossilized impressions of an ancient species new to science.
Memorial University paleologist Heléna Muirhead-Hunt says she knew right away that the creature discovered was something different.
The Inner Meadow site, Upper Island Cove (submitted)
She says the species she’s been studying “look like little trees, so they usually have this…trunk with parallel sides and then a crown, but what we have here….it was very much like a cone shape.” She says instead of bushy arms, it had “really distinct pinnules….they don’t look like anything…that we’ve seen before in the Ediacaran (period). It just didn’t look right, but in a way that was exciting.”
Heléna Muirhead-Hunt at Upper Island Cove (submitted photo)
Muirhead-Hunt says the diversity preserved at the Inner Meadow site in Upper Island Cove is impressive, and says the fossilized remains of some of the earliest-known animals found here is what attracted her to the province.
“It’s the reason I moved here” she says “I’m originally from Ontario, but I really wanted to study this type of paleontology, and Duncan (McIlroy) my supervisor, when he told me about this, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to be a part of this!’ and pretty much packed up my car and drove here.”
