larval

After being exposed to the stress of starvation and physical injury, the comb jellies in Soto-Angel’s care reverted back to a cydippid larval stage.

Lead researcher Dr Martin Smith said this was a dream fossil, in part because it was preserved in its larval, or immature, stage - when its body was still developing.

The black dots are larval tracks pushing into an oak, while the white object is a pupa preparing to become an adult.

They’re carnivorous creatures that use stinging tentacles hanging below the surface to catch prey such as copepods, fish eggs, larval fish and smaller plankton.

Changes in precipitation patterns, another critical factor for firefly survival, have led to either overly dry conditions that reduce larval survival or excessively wet conditions that can flood breeding grounds and disrupt life cycles.