Koko News | Science | 2 days ago

The Origin of Spiders: Land or Sea?

Spidersmayhaveoriginatedintheoceaninsteadofonland, asresearchersinAmericahavefounda500-million-year-oldfossilthathintsatthispossibility.

蜘蛛可能起源於海洋而不是陸地，美國研究人員發現的一塊 5 億年前的化石暗示了這種可能性。

Thefossil, belongingtoanextinctanimalcalledMollisoniasymmetrica, wasthoroughlyexaminedbyaninternationalteamofexpertsledbytheUniversityofArizonaintheUS.

該化石屬於一種名為 Mollisonia symmetrica 的滅絕動物，由美國亞利桑那大學領導的國際專家小組對其進行了徹底檢查。

Theteamdiscoveredthatthestructureoftheancientcreature'sbrainandnervoussystemresembledthatofmodernspidersandtheirrelatives, ratherthanhorseshoecrabsaspreviouslybelieved.

研究小組發現，這種古代生物的大腦和神經系統的結構與現代蜘蛛及其親屬相似，而不是像以前認為的那樣與鱟相似。

ProfessorNicholasStrausfield, theleadauthorofthestudy, mentionedthatthedebateontheevolutionofarachnidsfromseatolandisstillongoingandmanyquestionsremainunanswered.

研究的主要作者尼古拉斯·斯特勞斯菲爾德教授提到，關於蛛形綱動物從海洋進化到陸地的爭論仍在繼續，許多問題仍未得到解答。

Healsoproposedthattheseancientspiderslikelyfeastedonearlyinsectsandmillipedeswhentheyfirsttransitionedtoland.

他還提出，這些古老的蜘蛛在第一次過渡到陸地時很可能以早期的昆蟲和千足蟲為食。

TheteamnowspeculatesthatMollisoniasymmetricacouldbethecommonancestorofvariousarachnidssuchasspidersandscorpions.

研究小組現在推測，Mollisonia symmetrica 可能是蜘蛛和蝎子等各種蛛形綱動物的共同祖先。

Spiders may have originated in the ocean instead of on land, as researchers in America have found a 500-million-year-old fossil that hints at this possibility.

The fossil, belonging to an extinct animal called Mollisonia symmetrica, was thoroughly examined by an international team of experts led by the University of Arizona in the US.

The team discovered that the structure of the ancient creature's brain and nervous system resembled that of modern spiders and their relatives, rather than horseshoe crabs as previously believed.

Professor Nicholas Strausfield, the lead author of the study, mentioned that the debate on the evolution of arachnids from sea to land is still ongoing and many questions remain unanswered.

He also proposed that these ancient spiders likely feasted on early insects and millipedes when they first transitioned to land.

The team now speculates that Mollisonia symmetrica could be the common ancestor of various arachnids such as spiders and scorpions.