A 150-year-old marine invertebrate has been discovered in Africa and has been named after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. It has been named to honour his “courage and bravery in defending a free Ukraine“. 

Also Read: Russian ambassador to US says why Ukraine war began, how it can end: Report

The fossil was discovered in the Antalo Limestone Formation of Ethiopia and is the first Jurassic crinoid ever found on the African continent, according to Forbes. A lead author Professor Marius Salamon of the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland said “The fossil is extraordinarily preserved. Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi had 10 massive arms and a ring of claw-like appendages near the base to grip the substrate. The animal lived 150 million years ago – and shows putative traces of arm movements”, he said

Also Read: Nearly 15,000 Russians killed in Ukraine war so far, says United States intelligence

The creature had 10 long arms and sharp tentacle-like claws to grip the seabed according to the reports. Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi is believed to be closely related to sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. 

Also Read: ESPY Awards 2022: Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko receives Arthur Ashe Award

The creature was about 2 inches in diameter. Salmon mentioned, “The specimen shows evidence of regeneration, which reinforces the hypothesis about the importance of predation in the evolution of feather stars.”

According to Salmon, the new fossil constitutes the earliest, the first example of regeneration in a feather star. “Feather stars, or comatulids, are mostly known from highly disarticulated specimens,” Salamon added. 

Feather stars can have 5 to 200 arms. Each arm can be a foot long. They also have the ability to shed an arm as an anti-predator response. They tend to shed their steam in adulthood. Feature stars are not poisonous to humans, but can prove to be toxic to other animals. They are often conspicuous to divers and snorkelers. Snails often start living on them. 

Feather stars are echinoderms like other sea stars. They also have a type of crinoid along with sea lines which have a stalk. Feather stars can be of a variety of colours. From reds to oranges and yellows.