A Canadian geologist may have found the earliest fossil record of animal life on Earth, according to a report published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Around a billion years ago, a region of northwest Canada now defined by steep mountains was a prehistoric marine environment where the remains of ancient sponges may be preserved in mineral sediment,Geologist Elizabeth Turner discovered the rocks in a remote region of the Northwest Territories accessible only by helicopter, where she has been excavating since the 1980s. Thin sections of rock contain three-dimensional structures that resemble modern sponge skeletons.
“What's most stunning is the timing,” said Paco Cardenas, an expert on sponges at Sweden's Uppsala University, who was not involved in the research. “To have discovered sponge fossils from close to 900 million years ago will greatly improve our understanding of early animal evolution.” “I think she's got a pretty strong case. I think this is very worthy of publishing - it puts the evidence out there for other people to consider,” said David Bottjer, a paleobiologist at University of Southern California, who was not involved in the research.
But scientists using a line of reasoning called the molecular clock - where they analyze the rate of genetic mutations to backdate when two species likely diverged - say that available evidence points to sponges emerging much earlier, around a billion years ago.
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