Animals May Have Evolved 200 Million Years Earlier than Thought: Study
Researchers say older fossil calibrations push animal origins back by 200 million years, challenging the idea that missing fossils mark when animals first evolved.
- A new study suggests that animals may have originated 100 million to 200 million years earlier than the oldest known animal fossils.
- Researchers challenged the assumption that the absence of animal fossils in exceptionally well-preserved ancient rocks proves animals did not exist at that time.
- The team examined microfossils from Mongolia’s Kheseen Biota and found that animals can be absent even in rocks capable of preserving microscopic organisms in exceptional detail.
- Scientists then used molecular-clock analysis calibrated with older fossil sites in Australia, Norway and Arizona to estimate a much earlier origin for the animal lineage.
- The findings could indicate that early animals existed before the “Snowball Earth” ice ages, although researchers stress that undisputed animal fossils from 800 million to 700 million years ago have yet to be discovered.
73 Articles
73 Articles
A new Oxford-led study suggests animal life may have begun 700 to 800 million years ago, up to 200 million years earlier than the clearest fossil record and possibly before Snowball Earth
The animal kingdom may have started its journey on a much earlier Earth than scientists once thought.
The origin of the animals could be up to 200 million years older. One study reviews the fossil evidence and explains what remains unproven.
Animals may have evolved 200 million years earlier than we thought
New research suggests animals could have evolved as early as 800 to 700 million years ago, roughly 200 million years earlier than some previous estimates. If so, the first animals may have lived before or during Snowball Earth, leaving behind little trace because their soft bodies were rarely preserved.
The first animals on Earth may have appeared long before they left a clear trace in the fossil record. An international team of researchers estimates that animal life arose between 800 and 700 million years ago—100 to 200 million years earlier than the oldest recognizable animal fossils. Today's fossil record begins with finds dating back about 574 million years. But the new analysis challenges the notion that the absence of animal fossils in a …
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