Getting a Head on an Arthropod Fossil

There sure is a huge number of high-quality fossils coming out of China. While healthy skepticism is in order because of the people selling fakes in certain areas, the quantity is impressive. It may be that some are so plentiful, they are boring to scientists. Oh goodie, another trilobite...

Alert eyes can spot and reference something new or a superior specimen to something already known. Then they can use some of that impressive technology and get the details. This happened with a Kylinxia fossil and a CT scan.

Kylinxia zhangi, Wikimedia Commons / Junnn11 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

This critter looks like several others, so this child doesn't envy paleontologists who need to tell them apart. Anyway, computerized tomography (the CT in a CT scan) involves numerous X-rays. Kylinxia got the treatment and the soft stuff of its head buried in the rock was revealed. Of course, secularists promptly began telling evidence-free Just-So Stories about what went on in the distant past millions of Darwin years ago. What does have abundant evidence is the global Genesis Flood, which buried trillions of creatures rapidly — providing fabulous specimens worthy of CT scans.

Scientists have discovered that virtually all fossils found in the Cambrian sediments of the geologic column appear suddenly and are exceptionally preserved. One popular example is the complex, extinct invertebrate called the trilobite, with its thousands of named species.

. . .

Recently, paleontologists from Chengjiang Fossil Museum in China, and the Natural History Museum in London have redescribed an amazing fossil arthropod. It was unearthed in Cambrian (early Flood) sedimentary rock allegedly 520 million years old.

. . .

"The preservation of the fossil animal is amazing,” said lead author of the study Robert O'Flynn. In addition, “over 250 species of exceptionally preserved fossil organisms have been described” from the Chengjiang biota.

The entire article is found at "A New and Fascinating Arthropod Fossil."