The discovery of 520-million-year old three-inch-long fossil of ancient shrimp-like creature, Fuxianhuia protensa, could help understand the evolutionary origins of the heart, said researchers from the University of Arizona, the United Kingdom and China. On analyzing the fossil, researchers found that the creature was having well developed heart and blood vessels, an earliest known example of a cardiovascular system.

The fossil was discovered in the Yunnan Province in southwestern China, the place known for fossil rich deposits.

The creature belonged to the Cambrian period, the period known for sudden explosion of life in Earth's history. Researchers believe that the well preserved fossil was entombed quickly under very fine-grained deposits during some kind of catastrophic event like landslide or tsunami and is an invertebrate version of Pompeii.

Nicholas Strausfeld, University of Arizona Regents Prof. of neuroscience, said the findings are the best example of first preserved vascular system till now. He said the cardiovascular system of the fossil creature resembles the more advanced and well-developed cardiovascular systems found in many modern animals.

Fuxianhuia protensa was very simple animal, but with elaborate internal organization like its brain was receiving many arteries similar to that of modern crustaceans. The well-supplied blood vessels to brain illustrates that the animal was very active and was capable of making many different behavioral choices, said Strausfeld.