Scientists believe complex life originated on Earth approximately 1.5 billion years sooner than previously estimated.
Up until now, it has been thought that animals first evolved From unicellular organisms around 635 million years ago, when beings akin to jellyfish and sea anemones began populating the oceans.
But fossils discovered in Gabon In Central Africa, recent findings from the last ten years indicate that comparable organisms had developed around 2.1 billion years ago, a period during which such forms of life were believed to be nonexistent.
Now, scientists at Cardiff University have found out there was a phase of intense undersea turbulence volcanic activity within the area as portions of ancient Africa and South America — referred to as the Congo and São Francisco cratons — collided, forming a nutrient-rich environment that spurred the development of complex life.
Dr Ernest Chi Fru, From the Cardiff School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, they mentioned: "We believe that after the collision and joining of the Congo and São Francisco craton areas into a larger mass, subsequent underwater volcanic activity further limited and possibly isolated this segment of water from the broader ocean. This resulted in the formation of a nutrient-abundant shallow marine inland sea."
This fostered a localized setting wherein cyanobacterial photosynthesis thrived over an extensive duration, resulting in the oxygen enrichment of nearby waters and the creation of substantial nutritional resources.
This would have supplied enough energy to encourage growth in body size and more intricate behavior seen in early simplistic animal-like organisms, similar to those discovered in fossils from this era.
Long ago, tiny single-celled organisms struggled to grow larger due to insufficient nutrients, primarily phosphorus.
Elevated amounts of phosphorus lead to extensive algal blooms, which increase oxygen levels in the surroundings, enabling bigger, more intricate forms of life to flourish.
Approximately 635 million years ago, significant geological disturbances unleashed vast quantities of phosphorus, leading to oxygen levels akin to those present today and triggering a surge in biodiversity.
Researchers believe that similar processes took place approximately 2.1 billion years ago within the confines of the Franceville sub-basin located in southeast Gabon, the region where these peculiar fossils were discovered.
Flying saucer-like creatures nearly seven inches in length, resembling jellyfish, appeared to be living in the region 1.5 billion years earlier than they were thought to exist.
The geochemical data from the region indicate that there was a significant geological event which might have led to the liberation of phosphorus, thus setting up perfect circumstances for life to thrive.
Nevertheless, due to being isolated and encircled by adverse circumstances, the region hindered the spread and evolution of living organisms.
“Although the initial effort did not succeed in spreading, the subsequent one led to the development of the animal diversity we observe on our planet today,” explained Dr Chi Fru.
We think this was a localized experiment that emerged owing to exceptional circumstances confined to this inland sea, and as such, this life form did not proliferate.
But they act similarly to those that followed and went on to create the contemporary biodiversity we observe today after the 635-million-year mark.
The study was published in thejournalPrecambrianResearch.
Subscribe to the Front Page newsletter at no cost: Your daily must-read summary of The Telegraph’s key stories—delivered right to your mailbox every single day of the week.
Post a Comment