A billion-year-old fossil which could prove a new link in the evolution of animals has been found in the Scottish Highlands. Scientists led by the University of Sheffield and the US’s Boston College found the microfossil at Loch Torridon in north-west Scotland. The fossil – described and formally named Bicellum Brasieri in a research paper published in Current Biology – contains two distinct cell types and could be the earliest multicellular animal ever recorded. Professor Charles Wellman is one of the lead investigators of the research from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. He said: “The origins of complex multicellularity and the origin of animals are considered two of the most important events in the history of life on Earth, our discovery sheds new light on both of these.
A billion-year-old fossil which could prove a new link in the evolution of animals has been found in the Highlands.
Scientists led by the University of Sheffield and the US’s Boston College found the microfossil at Loch Torridon in north-west Scotland.
The fossil – described and formally named Bicellum Brasieri in a research paper published in Current Biology – contains two distinct cell types and could be the earliest multicellular animal ever recorded.
Professor Charles Wellman is one of the lead investigators of the research from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences.
He said: “The origins of complex multicellularity and the origin of animals are considered two of the most important events in the history of life on Earth, our discovery sheds new light on both of these.
Billion-Year-Old Fossil Found in Scotland Could Unlock Mystery of New Link in Evolution of Animals
Subscribe
Sputnik International
https://sputniknews.com/science/202104291082758732-billion-year-old-fossil-found-in-scotland-could-unlock-mystery-of-new-link-in-evolution-of-animals/
DNA evidence suggests that the first animals and plants classified as multicellular eukaryotes evolved between 2,500 and 1,000 million years ago, judging by fossils of both simple unicellular and more complex multicellular organisms found in abundance in rocks dating to the Proterozoic Era, which means early life .
Some fascinating secrets of Earth s earliest life forms may be unlocked thanks to the discovery of an ancient microfossil in the Highlands of Scotland.
The fossil, believed to be the oldest of its kind , could prove a new link in the evolution of animals, as it possesses two distinct cell types.
Date Time
Billion-year-old fossil reveals missing link in evolution of animals
Scientists have discovered the fossil of an organism with two distinct cell types, thought to be the oldest of its kind ever recorded
The fossil reveals a new insight into the transition of single celled holozoa into more complex multicellular animals
Found in the Scottish Highlands, the fossil suggests the evolution of animals occurred at least one billion years ago and may have occurred in freshwater lakes rather than the ocean
A billion year old fossil, which provides a new link in the evolution of animals, has been discovered in the Scottish Highlands.