Horseshoe Crab Fossil from a Long Time Ago Named After Darth Vader

[Judi Lynn]

By Dan Robitzski, Staff Writer | December 6, 2017 10:07am ET

The fossil of an ancient "Star Wars" Sith Lord from a long time ago, but not quite so far, far away, was recently unearthed, a new study reports. Fossilized remains of an extinct species of horseshoe crab, named after Darth Vader because the animal's bizarre shape resembles the "Star Wars" character's iconic helmet, were discovered in Idaho.

Researchers dubbed the newly discovered, 4-inch-long (10 centimeters) horseshoe crab Vaderlimulus tricki. The species name tricki honors the man who found the fossil, Trick Runions, who is part of the citizen science Dinosaur Trackers Research Group at the University of Colorado Denver.

The specimen marks the first time a horseshoe crab from the Triassic, a period lasting from 251 million to 199 million years ago, has been found in North America, the researchers said. The only other North American horseshoe crab fossils come from the Cretaceous, a period that lasted from 145 million to 66 million years ago. [Gallery of Fantastic Fossils]

The 245-million-year-old crab is young as far as horseshoe crabs go; the oldest known fossils are from roughly 470 million years ago, the researchers said. But this "young" creature had "unusual body proportions that give it an odd appearance," study lead author Allan Lerner, a researcher at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said in a statement.

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