maximus otter
Recovering policeman
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
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Millions of years [ago], Ediacara biota were munching on the bacteria and algae along the ocean floor.
The world’s oldest large organisms, Ediacara biota are a family of animals that date back 575 million years ago. They even existed before the Cambrian explosion, a major expansion of animal life that happened approximately 541 million to 530 million years ago and changed the course of evolution for all life on Earth. They are extinct, and the fossil specimens recovered have been shaped like discs or plant fronds and some rare specimens are close to eight inches in diameter. From the fossils, it’s possible that they were similar to soft-bodied marine organisms like jellyfish.
Researchers from Australia recovered fossils of two Ediacara—Kimberella and Dickinsonia—in 2018. Now, scientists are figuring out what ancient creatures snacked on.
The team analyzed ancient fossils of the Kimberella that had a natural chemical product found in plants called phytosterol molecules preserved inside of them, which could have come from this animals’ last meal. Further examination of the molecular left overs confirmed that the slug-like Kimberella actually had a mouth, a gut, and even digested food the same way that present-day animals do.
The algae that they ate are rich in energy and nutrients and may have been key to Kimberella’s growth, according to the study. Nearly all fossils of organisms that pre-date Ediacara biota were single-celled and microscopic in size.
Using chemical analysis, the team was able to extract and analyze the sterol molecules contained in the fossil tissue.
https://www.popsci.com/science/575-million-year-old-meal-animal/
maximus otter
The world’s oldest large organisms, Ediacara biota are a family of animals that date back 575 million years ago. They even existed before the Cambrian explosion, a major expansion of animal life that happened approximately 541 million to 530 million years ago and changed the course of evolution for all life on Earth. They are extinct, and the fossil specimens recovered have been shaped like discs or plant fronds and some rare specimens are close to eight inches in diameter. From the fossils, it’s possible that they were similar to soft-bodied marine organisms like jellyfish.
Researchers from Australia recovered fossils of two Ediacara—Kimberella and Dickinsonia—in 2018. Now, scientists are figuring out what ancient creatures snacked on.
The team analyzed ancient fossils of the Kimberella that had a natural chemical product found in plants called phytosterol molecules preserved inside of them, which could have come from this animals’ last meal. Further examination of the molecular left overs confirmed that the slug-like Kimberella actually had a mouth, a gut, and even digested food the same way that present-day animals do.
The algae that they ate are rich in energy and nutrients and may have been key to Kimberella’s growth, according to the study. Nearly all fossils of organisms that pre-date Ediacara biota were single-celled and microscopic in size.
Using chemical analysis, the team was able to extract and analyze the sterol molecules contained in the fossil tissue.
https://www.popsci.com/science/575-million-year-old-meal-animal/
maximus otter