中美考古新發現 最早爬蟲化石「夷陵蟲」

中國科學院南京地質古生物研究所早期生命研究團隊，與美國弗吉尼亞理工大學古生物學者合作，在中國三峽地區發現一種生活在約5.5億年前的爬蟲化石。這是至今已知最早的可主動運動、身體分節且兩側對稱的動物，類似現在的沙蠶、蜈蚣等爬蟲。研究人員根據發現地，將這新發現的動物命名為「夷陵蟲」。

夷陵蟲的形態
夷陵蟲體長可達30厘米以上，身體呈長條形、兩側對稱，具有明顯的身體分節，也有前後和背腹的區別，估計可能是一類生活在遠古海洋中的環節動物或節肢動物。

Research team on early lives from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences cooperated with paleontologists from Virginia Tech in the United States, discovering a reptilian fossil about 550 million years old in the Yangtze Gorges area of China. Till now, this was the earliest known mobile, segmented and bilaterally symmetric animal, similar to reptiles such as clamworm and centipede nowadays. According to the place of discovery, researchers named this newly found animal as “Yilingia spiciformis”.