Oldest fossil of shrimp using another creature for shelter discovered

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

About 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the land, three little shrimp went house hunting. Perhaps seeking shelter from predators, far from protective coral reefs, they chose a giant clam—not the largest on the block, but cozy at about 10 inches wide.

They settled in only to be quickly flooded with silt and mud. Their intended shelter suddenly became their tomb. And there they sat until 2016, when an Australian farmer came along and found them. The fossilized clam containing the three shrimp, each about 1.2 inches long, is now housed in Australia’s Kronosaurus Korner museum.

Recently described in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, the fossil represents the oldest example of a shrimp using another creature (or creature’s home) for shelter—something living shrimp still do today. This behavior, known as inquilinism, is seen in many animals, both on land and in the oceans.

A likely explanation, Bicknell says, is that the shrimp were following a basic survival instinct: hiding from predators. 

“This is a big finding, a big discovery,” says Ninon Robin, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences who was not involved in the study. “It’s quite rare to find specimens like this that are in association. It’s a lot of luck.”

Source - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/rare-fossil-captures-ancient-shrimp-hiding-inside-a-clam

[Eido 3,681]

Thank you little shrimps 

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

This discovery tells scientists that animals evolved the ability to seek shelter in another creature (inquilinism) very long ago (100M years according to their estimation). Which tells a lot, because scientists are debating when the first animal appeared.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiline