Until now it was thought that most of the time the Earth was inhabited by a stationary single-celled organisms and multicellular creatures appeared on it only 600-650 million years ago. A new discovery scientists have completely disproved this theory is now considered that the first animals began to move on the surface of the planet much earlier, billions of years ago. This is evidenced by the fossils found in the territory of the African country Gabon.
The discovery was made by a group of paleontologists from the Danish Centre for the study of the evolution of the Earth. Using geometric and chemical methods of archaeological Dating, they found the approximate time of formation of traces and tiny holes in the fossil record. Their ages amounted to about 2.1 billion years — it turns out that it is very old at this point traces of multicellular organisms.
Traces represent a tiny “hole” with a diameter of a few millimeters. After examining them, paleontologists came to the conclusion that they were done by the organism, similar to a slug that lived in waters with oxygen content. Scientists have suggested that the body consisted of aggregate single-celled creatures that banded together and formed a “colony” similar to mucus. Most likely, they moved in search of food — it other pits in the fossilized remains.
Whatever it was, it’s more a discovery that could help to close the gaps in the history of the development of living organisms. It is noteworthy that the first assumption of earlier emergence of complex life appeared in 2017 — read more about it you can read in our special article.
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