Fossil of a 'strange' sea creature discovered

Archaeologists in China have discovered a fossilized sea creature that they describe as "strange beyond measure", with long spines along its wormlike body and a shell that covers its head like a helmet.

The 515-million-year-old specimen was unearthed last year by a fossil collector in the hills of the Maotianshan Shales, an archaeological hot spot in Yunnan province.

The collector gave the fossil to Zhao Fangchen, a paleobiologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who studied it with researchers from Durham University in the United Kingdom.