The Taco Fossil

A surprising little animal

Scientists looked very closely at a really, really old fossil. They saw something funny — its hard shell folded over the top like a taco shell! So lots of people gave it a silly nickname: "the taco."

Not so simple after all

Odaraia was first found over 100 years ago in the Burgess Shale, a famous fossil bed in British Columbia, Canada. Even though evolutionists say these rocks are very old, Odaraia was already wonderfully complex — not simple at all. That surprises scientists who expect simple creatures in "early" layers, but it's just what we'd expect from a world God made complete from the start.

What was it like?

It was a tiny sea creature, only about as long as a new pencil. It had a hard shell on top, two big eyes that peeked out the front, and a paddle tail for swimming. Best of all, it had 30 pairs of legs — that's 60 little legs! Some scientists even think it swam upside down. Silly taco!

The amazing clue

Here's the cool part. The fossil is so clear that you can still see its teeny-tiny legs! When a sea animal dies and just lies on the bottom, it rots away and falls apart. So for all these little parts to be saved, the taco must have been covered by mud very, very fast. Fast mud makes a fantastic fossil.