Primordial predator prawn with spiky claws unearthed

A remarkable fossil site in Canada has offered up the half-billion-year-old remains of a four-eyed arthropod predator with a pair of spiky claws.

Scientists have unearthed nicely preserved fossils in British Columbia of the 508 million-year-old animal, named Yawunik kootenayi, that looked like a big prawn with a bad attitude and was one of the largest predators of its time. Including its claws, Yawunik measured about 22.5cm long. That may not sound impressive but most creatures at the time were much smaller.