Stunning 3D images show anatomy of 500 million-year-old Cambrian trilobites entombed in volcanic ash

Scientists have revealed the most anatomically complete specimens of Cambrian trilobites ever found in stunning 3D images.

The pristine fossils, which date to the Cambrian period (541 million to 485 million years ago), were found in 2015 entombed under layers of volcanic ash from the Cambrian Tatelt Formation in Morocco. This volcanic burial preserved even the animals' soft tissue, revealing anatomic features never observed before.

"These new specimens not only preserve the antennae and walking legs, but also mouth structures and even the entire digestive system in three dimensions (3D)," John Paterson, paleontologist from the University of New England and corresponding author of the study, told Live Science in an email.

The researchers unearthed two species of trilobites at the site — Protolenus (Hupeolenus) sp. and Gigoutella mauretanica, dating back to 509 million years ago.

To examine the long-extinct arthropods, the scientists used X-ray microtomography — an imaging technique used to view the inside of an object slice by slice — to piece together a virtual 3D model.

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These models captured "the finest details including the outer surface of the animals, each segment of their bodies, their legs, and even the hair-like structures along their appendages," Abderrazzak El Albani, a sedimentologist at the University of Poitiers lead author of the study, told Live Science in an email.