In the vast Australian outback, beneath the soil of Nilpena Ediacara National Park in South Australia, scientists have uncovered fossils that reveal important clues about the early evolution of life on Earth.
This region holds fossils from a time when single-celled organisms were evolving into the planet’s first complex animals.
A team of paleontologists, including Scott Evans from Florida State University, recently discovered a new species of ancient marine animal dating back 555 million years.
This animal, called Quaestio simpsonorum, is one of the earliest examples of an animal with left and right sides (asymmetry), a key evolutionary development.
The findings, published in Evolution & Development, help scientists understand how life on Earth evolved.
Quaestio simpsonorum is about the size of a person’s palm and has a distinct question-mark shape in the middle of its body, clearly marking its left and right sides.
This is the first time such clear left-right organization has been seen in fossils from this time period. Evans explained that this ancient creature was also capable of moving on its own, making it one of the earliest animals to do so.
The researchers believe that Quaestio behaved like a tiny marine vacuum, crawling along the seafloor and feeding on nutrients from microscopic algae and bacteria.
These microorganisms formed a layer of organic slime on the seafloor, which has been preserved in the rock slabs at the fossil site. The scientists found not only the impressions of Quaestio but also traces of its movements, showing that it was a mobile creature.
One exciting moment for the research team came when they flipped over a rock and discovered clear signs of movement from a Quaestio specimen, confirming that the animal could move.
The discovery is part of ongoing research led by Mary Droser, a professor of geology at the University of California, Riverside, who has been digging in the outback for more than 20 years.
She explains that studying these ancient fossils helps us understand how life developed on Earth and what factors, such as climate change, may have caused animals to evolve or become extinct.
Nilpena Ediacara National Park opened to the public in 2023 and is being considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its rich fossil history.
The researchers plan to continue their work at this vast site, which covers nearly 150,000 acres, hoping to uncover more secrets about Earth’s earliest animals.
