Istoria vieții pe Pământ, rescrisă. Animalele ar fi apărut cu 200 de milioane de ani mai devreme

A new study suggests that animals may have appeared on Earth up to 200 million years earlier than previously thought, based on fossil evidence. Researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed samples from the Kheseen biota, which is younger than the previously studied Weng'an biota. They found new microfossil species but could not confirm any as animals. The study indicates that animals likely existed in other regions, despite the lack of fossil evidence in the examined samples. Using molecular clock methods, researchers estimate the emergence of animals to be between 800 and 700 million years ago, with chemical biomarkers suggesting sponge existence at least 650 million years ago. However, the lead researcher cautions that this does not definitively prove the presence of animals at that time.