Spectacular fossil treasure trove pushes back origins of complex animals
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A newly discovered fossil site in southwest China has revealed that complex animal life emerged on Earth earlier than previously thought, with many key animal groups evolving before the start of the Cambrian Period. The discovery pushes back the origins of complex animals by at least 4 million years, to the end of the Ediacaran period, around 539 million years ago.
Researchers at Oxford University and Yunnan University in China have discovered a fossil site in southwest China that has transformed our understanding of how complex animal life emerged on Earth. The site, known as the Jiangchuan Biota, has yielded over 700 fossil specimens, aged between 554 and 539 million years old. The fossils reveal a diverse community of Ediacaran organisms, including new, undescribed animal forms and groups known from the Cambrian period. The discovery includes fossils of deuterostomes, the broader group that includes vertebrates such as humans and fish. The fossils also include ancestors of modern starfish and their closest relatives, the acorn worms. This finding helps to resolve a long-standing puzzle in evolutionary biology, providing evidence that animal lineages diversified well before the Cambrian explosion.
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