1.0Gizmodo Australiahttps://gizmodo.com.auIsaac Schultzhttps://gizmodo.com.au/author/isaacschultz-usa/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="FKNsOxpxdo"><a href="https://gizmodo.com.au/2024/05/150-million-year-old-brittle-star-fossilized-in-the-middle-of-cloning-itself/">150-Million-Year-Old Brittle Star Fossilized in the Middle of Cloning Itself</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://gizmodo.com.au/2024/05/150-million-year-old-brittle-star-fossilized-in-the-middle-of-cloning-itself/embed/#?secret=FKNsOxpxdo" width="600" height="338" title="“150-Million-Year-Old Brittle Star Fossilized in the Middle of Cloning Itself” — Gizmodo Australia" data-secret="FKNsOxpxdo" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); </script> https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2348bd126b73b2e30cd2020a17b790db.jpg?quality=75&w=600600337To the untrained eye, the ancient brittle star fossil above looks like what you’d expect of a now-especially-brittle echinoderm. But the fossil is quite rare: It captures the moment at which the brittle star was cloning itself, regenerating three of its arms as it died. The specimen was a chance find during a 2018 dig […]