Still Waters Posted September 14, 2017 #1 Share Posted September 14, 2017 It lived well over 550 million years ago, is known only through fossils and has variously been described as looking a bit like a jellyfish, a worm, a fungus and lichen. But was the 'mysterious' Dickinsonia an animal, or was it something else? A new study by researchers at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, and the British Geological Survey provides strong proof that Dickinsonia was an animal, confirming recent findings suggesting that animals evolved millions of years before the so-called Cambrian Explosion of animal life. https://phys.org/news/2017-09-mysterious-ancient-creature-animal.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperdyer Posted September 20, 2017 #2 Share Posted September 20, 2017 (edited) With terms like "more than likely" I don't consider this "solved" A good working theory but not solved. Edited September 20, 2017 by paperdyer fixed grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted September 21, 2017 #3 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Looks like a damn prehistoric plant leaf to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted September 21, 2017 #4 Share Posted September 21, 2017 If I remember correctly these lifeforms occurred before the Cambrian explosion and although they look bilaterally symmetrical like modern animals, the segments are alternate on either side of the midline. All the lifeforms from this period are very strange. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibeliever Posted September 21, 2017 #5 Share Posted September 21, 2017 A good example of the scientific process is on display here. For those who dismiss scientific conclusions because they don't "feel" right, this is the level of rigor that is required to "know" something, even when the subject matter seems somewhat trivial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted September 23, 2017 #6 Share Posted September 23, 2017 On 21/09/2017 at 2:53 AM, Sundew said: If I remember correctly these lifeforms occurred before the Cambrian explosion and although they look bilaterally symmetrical like modern animals, the segments are alternate on either side of the midline. All the lifeforms from this period are very strange. They're sometimes known as the 'fractals because rather than just bilateral symmetry, it ran down to the component parts being little versions if the whole. And yes they were Precambrian, also known as the Ediacaran Fauna, after the Ediacara Hills in the Founders Range in South Australia, although the earliest example, and earliest example of complex Precambrian life is actually Charnia, found in Charnwood Forest, in England. By a boy who went to the same school as David Attenborough. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted September 23, 2017 #7 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Sod that auto correct. I give in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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