Fossil resembling a giant lobster, 500 million years old.

Scientists have discovered the fossil of a 480-million-year-old marine creature in southeastern Morocco.

A simulation of the shape of a giant sea creature. Photo: Yale University

The fossil of this giant marine creature is called Aegirocassis benmoulae, named after its discoverer, Mohamed Ben Moula, a Moroccan fossil hunter. Resembling a giant lobster measuring 2 meters in length, this creature possesses many distinctive features, including a long head, a segmented body with slits on its back, and fins along both sides of its body.

According to scientists, this giant creature existed 480 million years ago, possibly holding the record for the largest creature on Earth during its time.

"Given its enormous size and bizarre shape, I think most people would be terrified to encounter it underwater," Dr. Peter Van Roy, a paleontologist at Ghent University in Belgium and lead author of the paper on the fossil, told the Huffington Post.

Aegirocassis benmoulae is related to anomalocaridids, the distant ancestors of modern crustaceans. However, unlike predatory anomalocaridids, this creature is quite docile. It only filters seawater to feed on plankton. Scientists believe this may be the animal with the largest filter ever discovered.

The recently unearthed fossil is considered highly significant in understanding the evolutionary process. The long fins running along the body of Aegirocassis benmoulae may be a precursor to the two sides of the body of modern crustaceans.

According to VnExpress.