Unlocking the Deep Past: New Study Maps the Dawn of Animal Life

Researchers have linked changes in sea levels and marine oxygen to the evolution of early animals in a study that combines fossil analysis with geological data from 580–510 million years ago, enhancing our understanding of early biodiversity.

A newly developed timeline of early animal fossils shows a connection between sea levels, marine oxygen changes, and the emergence of the earliest ancestors of modern animals. This study provides insights into the forces that spurred the evolution of the first organisms, from which all major animal groups originated.

A team from the University of Edinburgh studied a compilation of rocks and fossils from the so-called Ediacaran-Cambrian interval – a slice of time 580–510 million years ago. This period witnessed an explosion of biodiversity according to fossil records, the causes of which have baffled scientists since Charles Darwin.