Early animals may have evolved 800 million years ago research suggests

Animals may have evolved between 800 million and 700 million years ago, according to ScienceDaily Fossils. This timeframe is roughly 200 million years earlier than some previous estimates suggested by earlier biological timelines. [1]

A study led by the University of Oxford challenges a key assumption that scientists have long used to estimate when animal life first began, ScienceDaily Fossils reported. The findings suggest that animals were present well before they appear clearly in the geological fossil record. [1]

Researchers proposed that the earliest animals may have lived before or during Snowball Earth, a period of global glaciation in the natural history of Earth. ScienceDaily Fossils noted that these early organisms left behind little physical trace because their soft bodies were rarely preserved in sediment. [1][7]

The discovery alters current understanding regarding the speed and timing of early animal diversification. Scientists must now reconsider how early organisms survived extreme environmental changes millions of years before the traditional fossil record begins. [1]