Pneumodesmus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pneumodesmus |
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| A model showing what P. newmani might have looked like. | |
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| A picture of the actual fossil taken through a microscope. | |
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Pneumodesmus
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newmani
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Pneumodesmus newmani is an ancient species of myriapod, an animal group that includes modern millipedes and centipedes. For a long time, scientists believed it lived about 428 million years ago, during the Silurian period. This made it one of the very first creatures known to have lived on land.
However, there is a scientific debate about its true age. Some studies suggest it might be younger, from the Early Devonian period. Even with this debate, P. newmani is a very important fossil that teaches us about the first animals to leave the water and breathe air. It was discovered in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 2004.
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Discovery and Naming
The fossil of P. newmani was found by an amateur fossil hunter named Mike Newman. He was a bus driver from Aberdeen who enjoyed searching for fossils. He found the specimen in a layer of sandstone on a beach near the town of Stonehaven.
To honor his amazing find, scientists named the species newmani after him. The fossil is so important that it is the holotype for the species. A holotype is the single specimen used to officially describe and name a new species. It is now kept safely in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The first part of its name, Pneumodesmus, comes from the Greek word pneuma, which means "air" or "breath." This name was chosen because the fossil shows that this creature could breathe air.
What Did It Look Like?
The only known fossil of P. newmani is a tiny fragment, just 1 centimeter long. Even from this small piece, scientists can tell a lot about it. It had a body with small, wing-like ridges called paranota. It also had long, thin legs.
The fossil shows six body segments. Each segment was decorated with a pattern of bumps. In life, Pneumodesmus newmani would have looked a lot like a modern millipede, but it belonged to a different, extinct branch of the myriapod family tree.
Why Is This Fossil So Important?
This small fossil is a huge deal for scientists studying the history of life on Earth. It gives us clues about how animals first adapted to living on land.
The First Air-Breather?
The most exciting feature of the fossil is tiny openings on its body. Scientists believe these are spiracles, which are special holes used for breathing air. Spiracles are part of a breathing system that only works on land, not in water.
This makes P. newmani one of the earliest known land animals that breathed oxygen directly from the atmosphere. Before animals like this evolved, life was almost entirely found in the oceans.
How Old Is It Really?
For a long time, P. newmani was thought to be the oldest fossil of a myriapod ever found, at 428 million years old. This would also make it the oldest air-breathing land animal known.
However, science is always making new discoveries. Some newer tests suggest the rock it was found in is actually younger, maybe 414 million years old. If this is true, other fossils from places like Kerrera and Ludlow would be older.
Scientists are still studying the rocks and fossils to figure out the exact age. This debate shows how science works: new evidence can change what we know about the past. No matter its exact age, P. newmani remains a key piece of the puzzle of how life conquered the land.
A Tropical Scottish Past
When Pneumodesmus newmani was alive, the part of the world we now call Scotland was very different. It was part of a large continent called Laurentia and was located near the equator in the Southern Hemisphere. This means that this little creature crawled through a warm, tropical landscape millions of years ago.
