PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil – and named after discoverer’s mum

Study from University of Leicester describes a new species of fossil that is 444 million years-old with soft insides perfectly preserved

New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil – and named after discoverer’s mum
2025-03-27
(Press-News.org) A new species of fossil from 444 million years ago that has perfectly preserved insides has been affectionately named ‘Sue’ after its discoverer’s mum.

The result of 25 years of work by a University of Leicester palaeontologist and published in the journal Palaeontology, the study details a new species of multisegmented fossil and is now officially named as Keurbos susanae.

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 mineralised 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.”

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.

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 a 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.

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 mum 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 mum 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 mum 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.”

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil – and named after discoverer’s mum New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil – and named after discoverer’s mum 2 New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil – and named after discoverer’s mum 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

THE LANCET HIV: Proposed cuts to foreign aid could result in millions of HIV deaths and soaring rates of global HIV infections, new modelling study estimates

2025-03-27
New modelling analysis suggests that proposed funding cuts by major donor countries to foreign aid could undo decades of progress made to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and new infections and deaths could surge back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.   The study estimates there could be between 4.4 million to 10.8 million additional new HIV infections by 2030 in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) and between 770,000 to 2.9 million HIV-related deaths in children and adults by 2030.   The greatest impact from potential funding ...

Study reveals association between dietary sodium consumption and both general and abdominal obesity

2025-03-26
New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows an association between the amount of sodium consumed in the diet and the risk of both general and abdominal obesity. The study is by Annika Santalahti, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues. General obesity is a person’s obesity status as measured by their body mass index (BMI), with WHO international guidelines stating a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more means a person is living with obesity. Abdominal obesity is where fat accumulates around the abdomen and internal organs there, leading ...

Study finds knowledge of genetics and genomic medicine crucial for mental health providers to deliver informed, personalized care

2025-03-26
San Diego—March 26, 2025– In a manuscript published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry titled Psychiatric Genetics in Clinical Practice: Essential Knowledge for Mental Health Professionals, authors provide  updated guidelines on what mental health professionals should know about the latest advances in genetics and how genetics can inform clinical psychiatric practice. Key findings highlight the importance of understanding the genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders, the potential applications of genetic information in risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment selection, and patient education, ...

Hypersonic simulation in 3D exposes new disturbances

Hypersonic simulation in 3D exposes new disturbances
2025-03-26
At hypersonic speeds, complexities occur when the gases interact with the surface of the vehicle such as boundary layers and shock waves. Researchers in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were able to observe new disturbances in simulations conducted for the first time in 3D. Fully 3D simulations require a great deal of processing power, making the work expensive to compute. Two things made it possible for Deborah Levin and her Ph.D. student Irmak Taylan Karpuzcu to conduct the research: Time on Frontera, the National Science Foundation-funded leadership-class computer system at the Texas ...

Your neighborhood may affect your risk of dementia

2025-03-26
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — People living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods may be more likely to develop dementia than people living in neighborhoods with fewer disadvantages, according to a study published on March 26, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that neighborhood factors cause dementia; it only shows an association. Neighborhood status was determined by factors such as income, employment, education and disability. “Our findings show that the community in which you live influences your risk of developing dementia,” ...

Early signs of heart problems linked to smaller brain volumes

2025-03-26
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — People who have early signs of heart problems may also have changes in brain health that can be early signs of dementia, such as loss of brain volume, according to a meta-analysis published on March 26, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The meta-analysis does not prove that early heart problems cause loss of brain cells; it only shows an association. “This review shows that better ...

Research finds potential “molecular mimics” behind COVID-induced autoimmune disease

2025-03-26
COVID infection has been linked to higher risk of autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. But why the virus might cause the body’s immune system to go haywire remains unknown, making it difficult to develop therapies to avoid autoimmunity. One hypothesis is that viral “molecular mimics” that resemble the body’s own proteins trigger an immune response against the virus—and healthy tissues get caught in the crossfire. Now, with advanced data analysis and machine learning, scientists have identified a set of COVID-derived ...

Pennington Biomedical researchers identify neurons in brain that regulate energy levels and body temperature

2025-03-26
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  March 26, 2025  BATON ROUGE – Scientists at Pennington Biomedical Research Center have gained greater clarity in the brain regions and neurons that control metabolism, body temperature and energy use. Featured in the February edition of the journal Metabolism, Dr. Heike Münzberg-Gruening and a team of researchers discovered which chemicals influence the signals that control how much energy the body uses. In “Leptin Receptor Neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus require distinct neuronal subsets for thermogenesis and weight loss,” researchers laid out the pathways, chemicals, neurons ...

Cleaning microplastics

Cleaning microplastics
2025-03-26
In a new paper, researchers at North Carolina State University show proof of concept for a system that, in a single cycle, actively removes microplastics from water. The findings, described in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, hold the potential for advances in cleansing oceans and other bodies of water of tiny plastics that may harm human health and the environment.  “The idea behind this work is: Can we make the cleaning materials in the form of soft particles that self-disperse in water, capture microplastics as they sink, and then return to the surface with the captured microplastic contaminants?” said Orlin Velev, the S. Frank and Doris Culberson Distinguished ...

MD Anderson names Jeffrey E. Lee, M.D., Chief Medical Executive

MD Anderson names Jeffrey E. Lee, M.D., Chief Medical Executive
2025-03-26
HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced that Jeffrey E. Lee, M.D., an internationally regarded leader in the field of oncology, has been appointed chief medical executive (CME) effective April 1. Prior to his appointment, Lee served as CME ad interim, demonstrating strength as a leader committed to advancing the institution’s efforts in research, patient care, prevention and education. Assuming the role of CME is the culmination of Lee’s 34-year tenure at the institution, where he has made substantial contributions in the field ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The puberty talk: Parents split on right age to talk about body changes with kids

Tusi (a mixture of ketamine and other drugs) is on the rise among NYC nightclub attendees

Father’s mental health can impact children for years

Scientists can tell healthy and cancerous cells apart by how they move

Male athletes need higher BMI to define overweight or obesity

How thoughts influence what the eyes see

Unlocking the genetic basis of adaptive evolution: study reveals complex chromosomal rearrangements in a stick insect

Research Spotlight: Using artificial intelligence to reveal the neural dynamics of human conversation

Could opioid laws help curb domestic violence? New USF research says yes

NPS Applied Math Professor Wei Kang named 2025 SIAM Fellow

Scientists identify agent of transformation in protein blobs that morph from liquid to solid

Throwing a ‘spanner in the works’ of our cells’ machinery could help fight cancer, fatty liver disease… and hair loss

Research identifies key enzyme target to fight deadly brain cancers

New study unveils volcanic history and clues to ancient life on Mars

Monell Center study identifies GLP-1 therapies as a possible treatment for rare genetic disorder Bardet-Biedl syndrome

Scientists probe the mystery of Titan’s missing deltas

Q&A: What makes an ‘accidental dictator’ in the workplace?

Lehigh University water scientist Arup K. SenGupta honored with ASCE Freese Award and Lecture

Study highlights gaps in firearm suicide prevention among women

People with medical debt five times more likely to not receive mental health care treatment

Hydronidone for the treatment of liver fibrosis associated with chronic hepatitis B

Rise in claim denial rates for cancer-related advanced genetic testing

Legalizing youth-friendly cannabis edibles and extracts and adolescent cannabis use

Medical debt and forgone mental health care due to cost among adults

Colder temperatures increase gastroenteritis risk in Rohingya refugee camps

Acyclovir-induced nephrotoxicity: Protective potential of N-acetylcysteine

Inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 upregulates the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 signaling pathway to mitigate hepatocyte ferroptosis in chronic liver injury

AERA announces winners of the 2025 Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award

Mapping minds: The neural fingerprint of team flow dynamics

Patients support AI as radiologist backup in screening mammography

[Press-News.org] New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil – and named after discoverer’s mum
Study from University of Leicester describes a new species of fossil that is 444 million years-old with soft insides perfectly preserved