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The Chimera crab had a mix of strange featuresOksana Vernygora, University of Alberta
By New Scientist staff and Press AssociationFossils of a mixed-up crab from the Cretaceous have perplexed researchers with their bizarre anatomical features.
Around 70 of the fossil crabs have been found in the Andes mountain range in Colombia, which was a shallow coastal sea 90 million years ago when these animals were alive.
“We started looking at these fossils and we found they had what looked like the eyes of a larva, the mouth of a shrimp, the claws of a frog crab, and the carapace of a lobster,” says Javier Luque, of the University of Alberta, Canada. “We have an idea of what a typical crab looks like – and these new fossils break all those rules.”
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The fossil crabs are about the size of a five pence coinDaniel Ocampo R., Vencejo Films
The animal’s strange anatomy has been preserved well, enabling Luque and his colleagues to pick out details such as paddle-like legs and bulging eyes, which suggest the crab spent more time swimming than crawling in the sand.
The team have named the crab Callichimaera perplexa, which means “perplexing beautiful chimera”. In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a monster with a lion’s head, goat’s body, and snake’s tail.
“Callichimaera perplexa is so unique and strange that it can be considered the platypus of the crab world,” says Luque.
Journal reference: Science Advances
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