‘Fat’ traces confirm ocean fossils were earliest animals

Dickinsonia had oval-shaped bodies and came in a variety of sizes
A strange fossil that looks a bit like a giant leaf, or a fingerprint the size of a coffee table, has intrigued scientists for decades. Thousands of the fossils have been found over the past seven decades, revealing that it lived at the bottom of the ocean, without a mouth, intestines or anus, half a billion years ago. Was it a mossy plant? A giant single-celled amoeba? A failed experiment of evolution? Or the earliest animal on the earth?
After digging one of these fossils off a cliff in Russia and analysing its contents, researchers discovered molecules of cholesterol, a type of fat. This confirms that the creature, known as Dickinsonia , is the earth’s earliest known animal, said a report in the journal Science .
“Scientists have been fighting for more than 75 years” over the nature of these “bizarre fossils,” said associate professor Jochen Brocks from the Australian National University Research School of Earth Sciences.
“The fossil fat now confirms Dickinsonia as the oldest known animal fossil, solving a decades-old mystery that has been the Holy Grail of palaeontology.”
Dickinsonia contained rib-like segments the length of its oval-shaped body, which came in a variety of sizes and could grow as large as 4.6 feet. The analysis showed the animals were abundant 558 million years ago, millions of years earlier than previously thought, according to Mr. Brocks. The creature was part of the Ediacara Biota that lived on the earth during a time when bacteria reigned, 542-635 million years ago. Other researchers have previously claimed to have solved the mystery of the oddball animal. In September 2017, British researchers said they were certain it was an animal, based on a study of multiple fossils. Another team of researchers, including Mr. Gold, also concluded in 2015 that it was a relatively advanced type of animal because of the way its body grew differently than plants or mushrooms.
Advanced tools
While the matter wasn’t entirely settled, palaeobiologist Doug Erwin said: “I think the consensus among the majority of people who have worked on these fossils for the last decade or so has been they’re somehow related to animals… This is a new line of evidence which is certainly welcome,” Mr. Erwin sad. In that sense, the report represents the first time that biomarkers have been used to determine that a fossil from the Edicarian Period is an animal instead of something else. “It’s part of a renaissance in the field in paleontology,” said Mr. Gold. “We’re discovering, as our tools and technologies get better and better, we’re finding that actually there are all sorts of organic matter — proteins, fats, different carbon compounds — things that we didn’t think could survive for such a long period of time,” he added.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/fat-traces-confirm-dickinsonia-to-be-worlds-earliest-animals/article25011745.ece

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