Scientists have found the world’s oldest penis and it belongs to an ancient crustacean. It has remained well-preserved for 425 million years wrapped by volcanic ash. It is a surprising discovery considering soft tissue is not known to fossilise. The discovery was made by Professor Siveter on a rock in 2003.
The fossil is of the ostracod, a class of crustaceans. Upon inspection, researchers learned that has species did not evolve much with time and the anatomy of this genus hasn’t changed a lot, as per a report in Science. It also states that ostracods still exist and are known as seed shrimp.
Professor Siveter told ABC News that the animal’s hard and soft tissue did not disintegrate or decay because of volcanic ash, which makes the fossil specimen “an exceptional preservation”. The discovery is rare and Siveter says that it is not every day that you can assign a gender to a fossil.
This tiny crustacean is only 1 mm long but has surprised Siveter and others. He not only found a fully intact tiny fossil but also several other features on it that reveal more details about the crustacean. This includes the penis which has survived the brunt of time and has fossilised. According to ABC, the penis is quite large in proportion to the ostracod’s body and is supposedly a third of the animal’s total size.
“This fossil had all the appendages intact. We had the gills that the animal used to breathe. We had the eyes and we had the penis, which was lovely because it’s very rare that you can gender fossils,” ABC quoted him as saying.
The discovery of the penis led it to be named Colymbosathon ecplecticos, or “outstanding swimmer with large penis” in Greek.
According to Science, after Professor Siveter found the fossil in the West of England, a digital model of the ostracod was made by grinding the rocks and then the body was reconstructed in 3D.
Professor Siveter told ABC that the sperm produced by the crustacean was impressively large at 10mm long.
Notably, the fossil is “the only known undoubted gills in a fossil ostracode and provides the earliest direct evidence of a respiratory-cum-circulatory system in the group.” So, this ancient crab has been breathing and mating in the same way for thousands of years.
Shambhu Kumar is a science communicator, making complex scientific topics accessible to all. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
