Domestic researchers have solved a long-standing mystery in paleontology using deep-sea fossils from the Arctic. The Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) announced on the 31st that they have identified, for the first time in the world, a fossil of a type of primitive arrowworm known as 'nectocariid,' dating back approximately 520 million years, discovered in the Sirius Passet region of North Greenland.
Nectocariids were creatures that lived in the oceans during the early Paleozoic era and have remained an enigmatic fossil since their initial discovery in Canada in 1976. The academic community has proposed various hypotheses, including arthropods, chordates, and arrears, leading to nearly 50 years of debate regarding their accurate classification.
Research team leader Park Tae-yun and his fellow researchers at the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) obtained 11 specimens of a new type of nectocariid fossil in a frigid area at a latitude of 82 degrees North during a joint expedition with researchers from the United Kingdom and Denmark. Subsequent detailed analysis of the fossils revealed a pair of 'ganglia,' unique to arrowworms, in the central part of the body, confirming the lineage of this organism.
The analysis process was significantly aided by a micro-analysis technology based on an electron probe developed by the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) in 2016. This technology allows for high-resolution observation of the microstructure of ancient biological fossils, playing a crucial role in uncovering biological clues, such as neural structures.
Shin Hyung-cheol, the director of the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), emphasized that this achievement significantly demonstrates the excellence of domestic science and technology, as the field survey capabilities and internal analysis technologies possessed by the institute have made crucial contributions to solving core challenges in evolutionary biology.
This research was published in the international journal 'Science Advances' on the 23rd.
References
Science Advances (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu6990