Animals may have evolved vastly earlier than fossil evidence suggests

The earliest animals may have evolved hundreds of millions of years before their first unmistakable fossils appear in the fossil record, according to a new study led by the University of Oxford. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest animals may have originated deep in the Neoproterozoic Era, even before some of the most extreme ice ages in Ear

The top 3

1. Earliest Animal Origins: Challenging the Fossil Record: A study in Science Advances suggests animals evolved hundreds of millions of years earlier than the fossil record indicates, potentially originating in the Neoproterozoic Era before major ice ages.
2. Top 3 Oldest Known Animal Fossils: While molecular clocks suggest earlier origins, these are the confirmed physical records that define our current understanding of ancient life.
3. Most Extreme Earth Climates of the Neoproterozoic: The evolution of early animals was fundamentally shaped by the most intense global glaciation events in the planet's history.

Sources

• Phys.org
• Live Science

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