Overview
- Researchers have formally named a new ~500‑million‑year‑old arthropod, Magnicornaspis garwoodi, after re‑examining a museum specimen from Québec and publishing the description in BMC Biology.
- The specimen was collected near Sainte‑Anne‑de‑la‑Pocatière in 1962 and remained in the Smithsonian collections in Washington, DC until modern analysis revealed its significance.
- Magnicornaspis garwoodi belongs to the rare corcoraniid group and shows two large forward‑projecting head spines that indicate defensive adaptations evolved earlier in this lineage than previously known.
- The fossil is preserved in black shales of the Rivière‑du‑Loup Formation, a deep‑marine slope deposit not previously recognised for exceptional soft‑bodied preservation at this interval.
- The authors say this find, together with recent discoveries from China and Sweden, shows that under‑studied rock types and museum drawers can hide Furongian diversity and that more late‑Cambrian ecosystems may await discovery.