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A28    SCIENCE
                 Saturday 5 auguSt 2017


















            Scientists ID tiny prehistoric                                                           Warm winter, monsoon


            sea worm with 50 head spines                                                             rain leading to bee

                                                                                                      attacks in Arizona

            BY SETH BORENSTEIN                                                                       TUCSON,  Ariz.  (AP)  —  of  bees  Thursday  while
            AP Science Writer                                                                        Two deadly bee attacks  trimming a tree at a Tu-
            WASHINGTON (AP) —                                                                        in  the  past  week  in  the  bac golf resort.
            Long    before   dinosaurs                                                               Tucson  area  likely  are  The start of a concert by
            roamed  the  Earth,  a  bi-                                                              the result of a warm win-  Matchbox  Twenty  was
            zarre  creature  with  a  Ve-                                                            ter and recent monsoon  delayed  by  more  than
            nus flytrap-like head swam                                                               rain, experts said Friday.  90   minutes   Thursday
            the seas.                                                                                “Rain    makes    flowers  night after a bee swarm
            Scientists have uncovered                                                                makes  bees,”  said  Dr.  settled into the reserved
            fossils  of  a  tiny  faceless                                                           Steven  Thoenes,  owner  seating area at a Tucson
            prehistoric  sea  worm  with                                                             of  Beemaster  Inc.,  a  amphitheater.
            50  spines  jutting  out  of  its                                                        pest  control  company  Seventy  percent  of  all
            head.                                                                                    in  Tucson.  “There  were  bee  attacks  in  Arizona
            When  some  unsuspecting                                                                 no  freezes  last  winter  involve landscapers and
            critter  came  too  close,  its                                                          to  knock  them  down.  hives  being  disturbed,
            jaw-like  spines  snapped                                                                We’re seeing a lot of big  according  to  Thoenes,
            together  and  dinner  was   In  this  illustration  by  Marianne  Collins/Royal  Ontario  Museum   colonies  now,  and  the  who  said  he  has  been
            served.                      shows  a  Capinatator  praetermissus.  Long  before  dinosaurs   bees are big and nasty.”  studying  bees  for  46
            The  discovery  reported  in   roamed  the  Earth,  a  bizarre  creature  swam  the  seas,  a   On  Monday,  a  49-year-  years  and  owned  his
            Thursday’s  journal  Current   miniaturized prequel of “Jaws.”                           old   landscaper    died  pest  control  business  for
            Biology  offers  a  glimpse                                           Associated Press   after  being  attacked  25 years.
            into  the  Cambrian  explo-  larger  and  with  far  more  million years ago at a time   and stung while he was  The  bloom  of  flowers
            sion of life on Earth about  spines  in  its  facial  armory  when  creatures  started   at  a  home  outside  of  means  a  lot  more  food
            541 million years ago.       but  without  the  special-  getting  bigger  and  more     Tucson.  Two  days  later,  for  bees,  and  “more
            The new creature dubbed  ized  teeth  of  its  descen-    diverse.                       a  75-year-old  Rio  Rico  bees  mean  a  lot  big-
            Capinatator praetermissus  dants,  said  Derek  Briggs  It’s  difficult  to  find  com-  man  who  was  allergic  ger colonies,” said Justin
            is  so  different  that  scien-  of Yale University who led  plete  fossils  belonging  to   to  bees  died  after  be-  Schmidt,  a  scientist  with
            tists  said  the  fossils  repre-  a  team  that  discovered  the  chaetognatha  family   ing stung more than 100  the Department of Ento-
            sent  not  only  a  new  spe-  the  trove  of  fossils  in  two  because  they  decayed   times  while  fishing  at  a  mology at the University
            cies, but a new genus — a  national parks in British Co-  easily, said Briggs.           pond.                      of Arizona.
            larger grouping of life — as  lumbia, Canada.             This  latest  find,  however,   A 53-year-old landscap-   “And  that’s  when  you
            well.                        “The spines are like minia-  was  so  good  that  even      er  is  being  treated  at  a  have  to  be  especially
            It  was  only  4  inches  long  ture hooks, although more  soft tissue was saved, giv-   Tucson hospital after be-  alert  so  you  don’t  get
            and its spines were about  gently  curved.  They  were  ing scientists a good idea       ing attacked by a swarm  into trouble.”q
            one-third of an inch long.  stiff  rather  than  flexible,”  about  what  Capinatator
            It feasted on smaller plank-  Briggs said in an email.    looked like.
            ton  and  shrimp-like  crea-  “It’s hard to say why there  The  discovery  expands
            tures.                       are so many spines in the  scientists’ knowledge of a
            It  is  an  ancestor  of  a  fossil  example  —  but  pre-  “pretty  enigmatic”  group
            group  of  marine  arrow  sumably thus armed it was  of animals from the Cam-
            worms     called   chaeto-   a successful predator.”      brian era, said Smithsonian
            gnatha that are abundant  Capinatator       —    whose  paleobiologist Doug Erwin,
            in the world’s oceans.       name  translates  to  grasp-  who  had  no  role  in  the
            The prehistoric version was  ing  swimmer  —  lived  500  research.q
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