00:04This is what scientists say is the first worm species to have ever slithered around the earth.
00:09It was recently discovered in Arizona, an area that 220 million years ago when the worm was still alive,
00:15was once covered in tropical forests and rivers.
00:18A more hospitable climate for a creature like that.
00:20And researchers are now saying that it's a much more significant find than just cataloging a new worm species.
00:25They say it could be a missing link in an evolutionary timeline.
00:28A big reason for this is that worms aren't prime candidates for fossilization,
00:32as they lack things like bones and shells that are ripe for calcification.
00:35So what evolutionary gap does this specimen bridge?
00:38Well, an 87 million year one.
00:40Connecting worms with modern day amphibians.
00:43Ben Kligman, a doctoral student who was part of the fossil's discovery,
00:46says modern day worms are basically limbless amphibians.
00:49And somewhere around when this thing lived and now, the two classes of species separated.
00:54In fact, the worm-like creature that impressed this fossil wasn't even a ground dweller like worms today.
00:58The ability to dig happened much later,
01:00meaning this creature likely lived in trees, much like modern amphibians.
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