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.
bennu phoenix/Alamy
A tiny organism that lived a billion years ago had two different cell types, one forming its core and another its outer “skin”. It may have been one of the first life forms built that way, making it a crucial step towards modern organisms like animals that also have a skin that is distinct from the cells inside the body.
“This fossil clearly is multicellular with two different types of cell,” says Charles Wellman at the University of Sheffield, UK. While organisms made of multiple … Continue reading Subscribe now for unlimited access
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Billion-Year-Old Fossil Found in Scotland Could Unlock Mystery of New Link in Evolution of Animals
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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.