600 million year old sponge-like fossil found in China

Tiny fossil suggests primate life existed much earlier than first thought

Tiny fossil suggests primate life existed much earlier than first thought.

Although only approximately 500 micrometer square (small!) the sponge-like fossil is not related to modern sponges.

The interesting thing it the fossil pre-dates the Cambrian explosion, the relatively short evolutionary event, beginning around 542 million years ago in the during which most major animal phyla appeared.

Scanning electronic microscope picture of the 600 million-year-old sponge-like fossil
Scanning electronic microscope picture of the 600 million-year-old sponge-like fossil

Chinese scientists have discovered a 600 million-year-old sponge-like fossil that predates existing findings of primitive animals by 60 million years.

The Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Monday said the tiny fossil measuring two to three cubic millimeters was found in the Weng’an biota in southwest province of Guizhou.

The fossil was recovered from rocks in the early Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in South China. The specimen is tiny. The fossil is approximately 500 micrometers square.

There is sufficient evidence to identify this fossil as the only known sponge or sponge relative that dates before the Cambrian period. The fossil is not considered the common ancestor of sponges and related animals but does indicate that these species existed much earlier in history than previously thought

Source: Examiner and Bernama

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CW Staff
CW Staff

In the late 80s I started investigating UFOs and crop circles and joined the CCCS (Centre for Crop Circle Studies) and a local group researching strange sightings and reports along the south coast of Dorset (UK). In the early ’90s I started my own research group called SPS (Strange Phenomena Studies), this was renamed in 2004 to Cryptoworld.

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