An ancient arachnid has been "brought back to life" in a new video simulation, depicting one of the first predators to ever walk on land.
University of Manchester researchers, in cooperation with scientists from the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin examined exquisitely-preserved fossils. From these, the team was able to create a virtual model of an arachnid that lived 410 million years ago. The video shows, for the first time, how trigonotarbid walked across the ancient landscape, in search of prey.
By studying computer models created from the artifacts, the team was able to determine the range of motion for each of the limbs - the limits of their movement. They compared this data to modern arachnids, to model how the animals moved.
"When it comes to early life on land, long before our ancestors came out of the sea, these early arachnids were top dog of the food chain. They are now extinct, but from about 300 to 400 million years ago, seem to have been more widespread than spiders," Russell Garwood, a paleontologist in the University of Manchester, said.
The video was created using Blender software, an open source graphics program. Computer technology has come a long way, in just the last few years. Simulations once impossible to create can now be designed on modest systems, using readily-available software.
"When I started working on fossil arachnids we were happy if we could manage a sketch of what they used to look like; now we can view them running across our computer screens," Jason Dunlop, curator at the Museum für Naturkunde, said.
Arachnids are a class of invertebrate animals, which include spiders and scorpions. Each variety of the animals possesses eight legs. However, some species have evolved systems where the two front legs are used as sensory organs. Other forms of arachnids appear to have extra legs, which are other appendages, adapted to look like legs.
Blender is a free 3D rendering software, used to create models of people, animals and objects. It also contains a game engine, allowing movement of the characters created. The application was first introduced in 1988, after being developed by a Dutch software engineer named Ton Roosendaal.
Development of the virtual model was undertaken as part of a collection of papers, exploring the virtual re-creation of fossils. The team found the gait of the extinct creature was similar, in many ways, to modern spider species. However, some aspects of physiology were not as refined as today.
Creation of the virtual model of a trigonotarbid was detailed in the Journal of Paleontology.
