Discovered the oldest vertebrate creature

Physorg.com on March 8 reported a group of paleontologists who discovered the oldest vertebrate species in Southern Australia.

Named Coronacollina acula , this creature was from 560-550 million years ago, ie during the Ediacaran period (630-542 million years ago), before the outbreak of life and creatures became diverse on Earth. in the Cambrian period (542-488 million years ago).

Ancient animals Coronacollina acula.

This discovery provides an in-depth understanding of the evolution of life, especially the early life on the planet, why animals are extinct, how organisms adapt to the change of environment. The discovery may also help scientists recognize life elsewhere in the universe.

"People still think that, until the Cambrian period, animals were soft bodies and there was no hard body part , " said Mary Droser, professor of geology at the University of California, Riverside, USA, who co-researched by the team. She said, "But now we have an organism with bone body parts that appeared before the Cambrian period. Therefore, this is the oldest animal with hard parts. This structural element basically plays a role in supporting the body '.

Coronacollina acula was discovered in the form of a compressed fossil, ranging from a few millimeters to two centimeters. However, because the stone shrinks over time, this creature may be larger with a size of 3-5cm.

Notably, this creature is composed of sponges in the Cambrian period.

According to Droser, the arrival of Coronacollina acula is a sign that vertebrates are not abruptly present during the Cambrian period as people think, and the animals in the Ediacaran period similar to Coronacollina acula are part of the evolutionary flow of animals as we know.

The results of the study are published on Geology.com.