Over 541 million years old, this species could be Earth’s first-ever animal

Researchers found “chemical fossils” in ancient rocks containing 30-carbon steranes, a stable form of sterols present in the ...
IFLScience on MSN

At Least 541 Million Years Old, These Might Be The First Animals To Evolve On Planet Earth

Animal life is a recent addition to Earth, relatively speaking. The planet formed about 4.5 billion years ago, with microbial life likely emerging between 4.3 and 3.7 billion years ago. It was not ...
Study Finds

Ancient Chemical Fingerprints Point To Sea Sponges As Earth’s First Animals

Chemical fossils from 635-million-year-old rocks suggest sponges were among Earth’s first animals, reshaping the story of early life.
New Scientist

Surprising fossils suggest early animals survived outside of water

Animals living about 500 million years ago spent time on mudflats that were periodically exposed to the air. The finding suggests that some of the earliest animals were able to survive outside of ...
The Conversation

How dramatic daily swings in oxygen shaped early animal life – new study

Emma Hammarlund receives funding from the European Research Council Horizon 2020. Imagine a world where the oxygen you need changes dramatically between day and night. Your world shifts from being ...