"Fossil Hunter Honored in Final Spin of 'Ezekiel's Wheel'"
Yale paleontologists have identified the mysterious fossil known as "Ezekiel's Wheel" as a 420-million-year-old hemichordate called Rotaciurca superbus. The fossil, discovered by amateur fossil hunter Samuel J. Ciurca Jr., is a unique cephalodiscid that evolved a conical structure resembling a wheel. The researchers named it Rotaciurca superbus in honor of Ciurca and assigned it to a new family called Ezekielidae. This discovery provides new insights into the evolution and behavior of ancient hemichordates.