This unlikely chain makes capturing common life events like your last meal or developing embryos even more rare.

But in the case of a newly published study, researchers were lucky enough to find what appear to be the earliest known parasites, still stuck to the hosts they targeted some 510 million years ago.

To the researchers, they sure looked like parasites.

But clear identification of parasites in the fossil record has been quite rare.

Individuals with one or more tubes stuck to them were about 26-percent smaller on average.

Specifically, the researchers say they look like an example of what’s known as “kleptoparasitism,” meaning they pilfered the brachiopod’s lunch.

By extending just beyond the brachiopod’s open shell, the tube parasites could catch food on its way in.

This makes the tube creatures the oldest parasite identified in the fossil record.

Their existence isn’t really surprising, as others have pointed to things like shell damage as possible hallmarks of (missing) parasites in other fossils this old.

Studies examining the branches in the tree of life have also estimated that parasites must have had their evolutionary roots in the Cambrian.

The researchers note that parasitism is thought to be a potent evolutionary force and possibly even an important driver in the rise of sexual reproduction.