Animals may have had a rich variety of complex body types far earlier than scientists had recently thought.
A crucial moment in the history of life on Earth was the Cambrian explosion. Starting some 539 million years ago, it marks when animals very quickly became much more diverse. How this “explosion” in diversity happened has been a mystery. But a trove of newfound fossils points to an answer.
Animals seem to have begun evolving an array of strange body types even before the famed explosion. Researchers described them April 2 in Science.
“This paper is absolutely fascinating,” says Emily Mitchell. “It provides vital insights into [pre-Cambrian] life.” Mitchell is a paleontologist who did not take part in the research. She works at the University of Cambridge in England.
Explainer: Understanding geologic time
The time just before the Cambrian explosion is known as...
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