Scientists found an animal with a “large,” “densely coiled” shell in an “underground cavern” of Serbia and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Gojšina, Vesović, Ćurčić, Karan-Žnidaršič, ...

A scientist strapped on climbing gear and lowered themselves into a pit-like cavern in eastern Serbia. Deep in the “underground cavern,” they spotted a “large” creature crawling across a moist stone.

Fossil shell of Pithocerithium rubiginosum (height is 1.5 cm) from the Miocene sediments of Nexing in Austria (left) and isolated reddish polyene pigments on calcium fluoride disc (diameter of disc is ...