THE remains of a 425 million-year- old shrimp-like creature discovered on the Herefordshire border are completely new to science, according to experts.

An international team of researchers from the universities of Leicester, Oxford, Imperial and Yale found the fossilised remains of the tiny creature – which is related to crabs, lobsters and shrimps – on the county’s Welsh border.

The creature, which is being called Pauline avibella, measures up to 10 millimetres long and is special because it is exceptionally well preserved, complete with not only the shell but also the soft parts – its body, limbs, eyes, gills and nutrition system.

Scientists have known about the Herefordshire site for about 10 years, but after visiting in person realised it was a “treasure trove” of ancient fossils.

The fossils had been preserved in rocks which date to an era when southern Britain was a sea area on a now lost subtropical continent.

At some point in history, the shelled creatures were covered by volcanic ash and frozen in time.

Professor David Siveter, of the University of Leicester department of geology, said: “The two ostracod specimens discovered represent a genus and species new to science.

“The find is important because it is one of only a handful preserving the fossilised soft tissues of ostracods.” The preservation of soft parts of animals is a very rare occurrence in fossils, he added, and allows unparalleled insight into the ancient biology, community structure and evolution of animals – key facts that that would otherwise be lost to science.

The fossils have now been reconstructed “virtually” to show what they would have looked liked.

Stressing the importance of the find, Professor Siveter added: “This discovery adds another piece of knowledge in the jigsaw of understanding the evolution of animals.

“The fossils known from the Herefordshire site are of global importance.”

The research was undertaken by Professor Derek Siveter and Dr Sarah Joomun (Oxford), Dr Mark Sutton (Imperial College London) and Professor Derek Briggs (Yale, USA).

The creature is named in honour of Professor Siveter’s late wife Pauline Siveter, while avibella means “beautiful bird”, to reflect the resemblance of a prominent feature of the creature’s shell to the wing of a bird.