Friday, October 2, 2026
Science

Animals may have evolved vastly earlier than fossil evidence suggests

The earliest animals may have evolved hundreds of millions of years before their first unmistakable fossils appear in the fossil record, according to a new study led by the University of Oxford. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest animals may have originated deep in the Neoproterozo...

Animals may have evolved vastly earlier than fossil evidence suggests
Image: Phys.org
The earliest animals may have evolved hundreds of millions of years before their first unmistakable fossils appear in the fossil record, according to a new study led by the University of Oxford. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest animals may have originated deep in the Neoproterozoic Era, even before some of the most extreme ice ages in Earth's history.

Originally published at Phys.org

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