A long time ago, about 200 million years ago, an ancient leech made itself a viscous and sticky cocoon, into which a strange tear-shaped creature with a springy tail accidentally fell, where it was kept until recently scientists discovered it.
The cocoon itself is similar to those built by ordinary, modern leeches. But inside there was a creature similar to the ciliates Vorticella. His body resembles a bell about 25 microns in size (this is approximately the width of a human hair).
Connected to it is a stalk, tightly rolled into a ring, about twice as long. With this stalk, the animal, apparently, was once attached to hard surfaces, and its leg was constantly contracting, now straightening like a telephone cord, then twisting into a tight spring.
This animal lived in the late Triassic period, when the Earth was much warmer and humid tropical forests grew all around. At the time, Antarctica was still part of the supercontinent Gondwana.
It's amazing how a soft-bodied creature could survive so well. Scientists suggest that the slime released by the leech during the construction of the cocoon instantly "buried" the unknown creature immediately after the cocoon fell under water or lay in wet fallen leaves.
Our mysterious animal attached to it with its long stem, quickly contracting, was trapped in a sticky substance and, finally, completely immersed in the shell, which takes from several hours to several days to harden.
The only find of comparable significance - a cocoon, with an enclosed nematode, about 125 million years old, was discovered in Svalbard (Norway).