Have scientists discovered the earliest EVER animal?

Scientists at Edinburgh University think they may have discovered one of the first complex animals to have ever lived on Earth.

Their find shows that these creatures lived millions of years earlier than previously thought.

Fossils of the teeny marine animal, known as Namacalathus hermanastes, were found in Namibia, Southern Africa, back in 2000.

But the scientists who’ve been studying it think it could be the earliest example of an animal with a complex skeleton (similar to those you might find in today’s sea creatures).

It was believed that the earliest known animals began life in the Cambrian Period – 541 million years ago – but we now know that the Namacalathus were thriving nine million years earlier in the Ediacaran Period, 550 million years ago.

Make sure you check out the ocean’s weirdest creatures!

The Edinburgh-led team studied perfectly-preserved fossils of the Namacalathus. They learned that the species had a rigid skeleton made of calcium carbonate – the same hard material that makes up the shells of sea creatures today.

“This fossil has been known for a long time, and was assumed to have been a primitive animal,” says geologist Rachel Wood, from Edinburgh University. “But this study suggests that it was, in fact, more advanced. We have suspected that these complex animals were present in the Ediacaran, but this study provides the first proof.”

The Namacalathus had a ball-shaped body and long, worm-like stalk that it used to attach itself to the sea floor. Many of today’s animals could count the Namacalathus as their ancestors – cool!

Creatures before the Namacalathus were primitive beings like sponges and coral that don’t have skeletons.

The discovery has changed scientists’ belief that most major animal groups evolved during the Cambrian Period.

Do you have a favourite prehistoric animal? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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COMMENTS1

lauren

Very interesting a couple of words I do not know the meaning of but I looked them up and I get it now.
lauren

a realy good program
mandi

this is an awesome picture
MGGaming

wham
Boris

Awsome
Boris

Lol
HF

AWESOME!
Anastasia-kaub

Incredible!!
simbob27431

my favourite prehiestoric animal is a sabre-tooth tiger
lovelymix123

lol
Doris

Mammoths
HanSolo

it probably lived at the same time as the animal"charnia"
Cian

amazing
pkg

I really like a dino called pachirinosaurus!
Chile-1

Wow i didnt know they existed
Kasper

Dinosaurs,!
grayson23556

LOL
peanutbutterjellytime

so weird!
shellfish

I love Fossiles
zaynab

nice
mathew4444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

Awsome
mikey123

i think the story was good nd a good way to learn
PotatoTurtle_

Noice
Gogocoolj

Very fun
Dinoslasher

This goes beyond my brain I thought 400 million years ago was the start of life.
toothless8

MY fave prehistoric animal is an domernus rex there awsome
timmy

cool bro
Maxinemarianesleta

Awesome
KILLER4545

clever
Calum James

Iguanadon
A2

Cool
Happyangel4567

Awesome
1379

This taught me a lot???
Pool

Cool
Laughing_donkey

I tend to prefer unicellular organisms, but if I had to go for an animal I would probably say one of those things that look like fish but arent proper ones yet.
mc_coolyo

EPIC!
Gracetiger

Weird but cool and interesting I wonder if theres anything older with a skeleton!!!!
EEDDAA

THAT IS SO COOL I LOVE IT
Ozzy

Lamest thing I have ever seen in my entire life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lolApic 2222

THAT.IS.AMAZING.
Sruth

That was amazing
Oscar-2-cool

Intresting, but i would like to know a bit more
Squid-lover

Wow! Thats old!