Scientist Claims This Animal is the Ancestor of All Humans! Isn't That Amazing?
A groundbreaking discovery by researchers at the University of California, including Scott Evans, published in the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' reveals a surprising find: an ancient 55-million-year-old organism discovered in deep Australian sea caves, potentially the ancestor of all animals!
‘The ancestor of all animals’?
Paleontologist Scott Evans and his team discovered a strange slab off the coast of Australia's deep sea caves, containing tiny, curved holes resembling grains. Clearly not formed naturally, it is suspected to be a fossil, so researchers scanned and modeled it, revealing it was a worm, and researchers also found similar structures of the worm!
3D laser scanning
They possess clear heads and tails, as well as worm-like symmetrical and muscular tissue. Researchers have named it ‘Ikaria wariootia’, meaning ‘ancestor of all animals’! Professor Mary Droser of UC Riverside says it's the oldest complex animal fossil she has ever found!
This animal is also the oldest known symmetrical organism discovered to date, possessing both front and side faces, and two symmetrical sides and a head connected to an anus via the gut. Early discoveries of multicellular organisms, such as sponges and algae, are called Ediacaran biota (571-539 million years ago), even the most complex multicellular organisms are very different from modern animals, like Dickinsonella, a kind of brain-like organism, lacking many basic animal features, such as a mouth and gut.
'Ikaria wariootia' rendering
Symmetry is a milestone in the evolutionary path of life, allowing organisms to move purposefully, and it is the most common and successful body plan, from worms to insects to dinosaurs, ultimately to humans, all have symmetrical bodies. Other symmetrical forms, such as corals (centric symmetry) and sponges (asymmetrical), are considered lower organisms.
Various symmetrical body forms
This symmetrical organism, named ‘Ikaria wariootia’, survived the Ediacaran extinction and continued into the Cambrian period (541-485 million years ago), giving it enough time to evolve its descendants, therefore calling it the ancestor of all animals is not excessive!
A brief history of the evolution of life
4 billion years ago, the earliest life appeared on Earth, originating from RNA molecules that could self-replicate, later replaced by DNA, which is more efficient. By 3.8 billion years ago, prokaryotes appeared, which are single-celled organisms, including ancient bacteria. The structure of the cell began to appear.
In the late stages of Earth’s formation, the surface cooled, and the atmosphere and oceans began to form. Volcanoes erupted constantly, and strong ultraviolet rays from the sun and lightning struck the earth. These molecules interacted with each other and finally formed self-replicating RNA.
There are many theories about the birth of life, but the most credible one is the Miller-Urey experiment, which simulates the various environments of early Earth, conducted by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey in 1953, the result of which was published in a paper titled ‘Amino Acid Formation in Possible Early Earth Environments’, which is considered the most classic experiment about the origin of life in modern textbooks.
'Miller-Urey experiment'
28-25 million years ago, photosynthetic cyanobacteria appeared, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, which directly led to the Great Oxidation Event 25 million years ago, and oxygen-loving organisms began to dominate! 15 million years ago, multicellular organisms appeared, such as marine algae!
66 million years ago, the earliest vertebrates appeared, 48 million years ago, fish appeared, 37.5 million years ago, fish began to develop fleshy fins to support land movement!
2.51 million years ago, dinosaurs appeared, 1.25 million years ago, early primate ancestors appeared, 7500 years ago, the last common ancestor of humans and mice appeared, 6600 years ago, dinosaurs went extinct!3700 years ago, the ancestors of monkeys appeared, 1300 years ago, the ancestors of humans formed from chimpanzee ancestors, 370,000 years ago, Homo antecessor appeared, 2.7 million years ago, Neanderthals went extinct, only Homo sapiens remained!150,000 years ago, the ice age ended, and Earth entered the warm glaciation period!
10,000 years ago, humans entered the agricultural era, and in the 18th century, humans entered the Industrial Revolution, and in 1969, Americans landed on the moon!
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