True origin of oldest evidence of animals

Image: M. Neumann - Two teams of scientists have resolved a longstanding controversy surrounding the origins of complex life on Earth. The joint studies found molecular fossils extracted from 635-million-year-old rocks aren't the earliest evidence of animals, but instead common algae. The researchers from The Australian National University (ANU), Max Planck Institute and Caltech say the finding has big implications for our understanding of evolution. "It brings the oldest evidence for animals nearly 100 million years closer to the present day," Dr Lennart van Maldegem from ANU, co-author author of one study, said. "We were able to demonstrate that certain molecules from common algae can be altered by geological processes - leading to molecules which are indistinguishable from those produced by sponge-like animals. Professor Jochen Brocks, also based at ANU, said the mystery of when our very earliest animal ancestors emerged and became abundant in the oceans has puzzled palaeontologists for more than a century. "Ten years ago, scientists discovered the molecular fossils of an animal steroid in rocks that were once at the bottom of an ancient sea in the Middle East," Professor Brocks said.