• AutoTL;DRB
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    31 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    In addition to capturing much of its external anatomy in exquisite detail, the researchers were able to image its interior using radiation from a synchrotron, a type of circular particle accelerator.

    Running down the center of the animal’s interior was a line of material composed primarily of small pieces of shells.

    While there are three clusters of material along the track, smaller bits of shell are present between them, providing an outline of the entire digestive tract.

    There are also fragments of thin shells that probably were derived from shellfish like clams and mussels, as well as some pieces of an echinoderm (think starfish and sea urchins).

    (In case you were curious as to how scientists describe pooping in papers, that’s phrased as something that “may represent a further adaptation, allowing the passage of large undigested particles through the anal opening.”)

    This would require an acidic environment and would have liberated lots of calcium, which can pose challenges to animals where muscle contractions are calcium-driven.


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