Researchers Recreate Walking Gait of 410-million-year-old Arachnid

A video created by researchers at the University of Manchester shows a 410-million-year-old arachnid walking.

The video was made using an open-source computer graphic program called Blender.

The ancient animal called trigonotarbid was one of the first predators on the land, BBC reported. The video could help researchers understand how the early relative of spider interacted with its environment.

"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," said author Dr Russell Garwood, a palaeontologist in the University of Manchester's School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, according to a news release. "They are now extinct, but from about 300 to 400 million years ago, seem to have been more widespread than spiders."

To create the video, researchers first analyzed a thin slice of rock that has the animals' cross-section. The fossil is so well-preserved that scientists could see all its legs and joints.

Researchers analyzed the specimen to recreate the possible range of motion that the arachnid could have. The team then compared the ancient animals' walking gait to the movement of modern-day arachnids.

The availability of open source software means that scientists can make computer simulations of ancient animals and understand how these creatures moved in real-life, researchers said.

Garwood said that the fossils used in the study came from a rock called the Rhynie chert, which has well-preserved remains of the arachnids.

"During my PhD I could build up a pretty good idea of their appearance in life. This new study has gone further and shows us how they probably walked. For me, what's really exciting here is that scientists themselves can make these animations now, without needing the technical wizardry - and immense costs - of a Jurassic Park-style film," Garwood said.

The fossils used in the study are just few millimetres in length. They were found in Scotland, near the Aberdeenshire town of Rhynie, BBC reported.

The work is part of a collection of papers on 3D visualization and analysis of fossils published in the Journal of Paleontology.

Watch the video, here.