- This is Our Ancestor. Image by Prave.
Scientist belive they have found our oldest ancestor, the creature, Otavia antiqua, was found in 760-million-year-old rock in Nambia. This multicellular being spawned every living organism in this world through billions of mutation, from fish to amphibians to reptiles to birds to animals to you.
- A scanning electron microscope view of Otavia antiqua. Image by Prave.
Our Ancestor is also very reslient. According to the South African Journal of Science, it survived atleast two “snowball Earth” events, when the entire planet was almsot entirely covered with ice.
Despite the wild enviornmental swings, this creature remained almost unchanged, resisiting along with algae and bacteria for “roughly 200 million years of existence.” Prave suggested.
Paleontologist Dr. Bob Brain – who is an expert in predation- belives that Otavia was the Earth’s first predator. During the early days, it was at the top of the food chain, consuming its food while it had no means to hunt. According to Brain, this was the first evolutionary arms race, which “led to humans dominating the planet.”
References
- Oldest Animal – Earliest Ancestor of Us All? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/120207-oldest-animals-sponges-earliest-science-evolution/ (accessed 02/12, 2012).
- Sponge-like creaure may be oldest animal ever found. http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/sponge-like-creature-may-be-oldest-animal-ever-found-1.1227656 (accessed 02/12, 2012).
- The oldest animal fossils. http://www.sajs.co.za/index.php/SAJS/article/view/1064/1048 (accessed 02/12, 2012).
