Gabon Fossils Reveal Complex, Multicellular Life 2 Billion Years Old
Saturday, July 3, 2010 - 12:42
in Paleontology & Archaeology
The existence of multicellular organisms, the first complex life forms (made up of several cells) has been extended from about 600 million years in the past to over 2 billion years ago, according to research published in Nature. That means organized life is a lot older than was scientifically accepted, though older existence was obviously assumed because the first traces of life appeared in the form of prokaryotic organisms (without a nucleus) 3.5 billion years ago. The "Cambrian explosion" 600 million years ago marked a proliferation in the number of living species and was accompanied by a sudden rise in oxygen concentration in the atmosphere. read more