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Giant worms may have burrowed into the ancient seafloor to ambush prey

Trace fossils are possible evidence of predatory behavior similar to modern bobbit worms

illustration of ancient bobbit worms

Like modern bobbit worms, ancient worms may have dug holes in the seafloor to lie in wait before attacking their prey (illustrated), a new study suggests.

Y-Y. Pan et al./Scientific Reports 2021

By Helen Thompson

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Around 20 million years ago, giant ocean worms may have burrowed into the seafloor and burst forth like the space slug from Star Wars to ambush unsuspecting fish.