A new 450-million-year-old fossil arthropod, preserved in 3D by iron pyrite (fool’s gold), has been unveiled by scientists.

The new species, Lomankus edgecombei, is distantly related to spiders, scorpions, and horseshoe crabs.

The findings have been published today (29 Oct) in the journal Current Biology.

Weddell seals in Erebus Bay, Antarctica, may look like couch potatoes when they are resting on ice. However, these seals, which are the southernmost population of the southernmost living mammals, are exceptional divers that can reach depths of more than 900 meters and recorded dives lasting 96 minutes, which is well beyond their aerobic threshold.

Scientists have identified an optimal and novel dive foraging strategy the seals employ to capture prey in the highly seasonal Antarctic environment with its rapidly changing light regimes.

In this optimal foraging strategy, the seals typically strategically conduct their deepest, longest, most extreme dives earlier than solar noon, rather than during peak foraging times at midday.

Extreme dives require seals to have longer recuperation times once they return to the surface, and so cuts into their foraging time. By conducting these dives early in the day, the seals can better take advantage of peak midday foraging times, according to the researchers.