Poisonous oceans delayed animal evolution
Monday, October 24, 2011 - 10:02
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Animals require oxygen, but oxygenated environments were rare on early Earth. New research from University of Southern Denmark shows that poisonous sulfide existed in the oceans 750 million years ago making large areas of the seafloor inhospitable to animal life. Such ocean conditions may have prohibited the emergence of animals on early Earth. The results are published in the scientific journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.