5 Oldest animal in the world- Eduauraa Blog
For the last few decades, experts considered that giant dinosaurs were the earliest living creatures on our planet.
The former knowledge depicted that these pre-historic creatures walked or flew on the Earth some 100 million years ago.
However, that knowledge is about to be proven wrong by some touring archaeologists in Bhopal at the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters in India.
They were able to discover the fossil remains of a typical ancient animal known as Dickinsonia.
As a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, the location consists of cave paintings that date back 10,000 years in the past, to about 8,000 B.C.
The themes in those cave paintings include early evidence in dancing and hunting of animals.
The newborn among pre-historic eras
It is estimated that the Dickinsonia creature used to exist about 570 million years in the past, during the late Ediacaran period. Such similar types of species also came in the form of wave-like fronds, ringed discs, lumpy ropes, and patterned blobs.
Among the various Ediacarans, the Dickinsonia is well renowned. Its first discovery was in 1972 in the country of Australia. Its fossils were also available in different parts of the world except for Antarctica.
The 17-inch long fossil is the first genus to have been discovered in India. In comparison, its family from the rest of the world was found to be only 4 feet long.
The appearance of Dickinsonia
The creature Dickinsonia had a flat and oval body with a wavy surface that had a division in the center. Its head or the anterior end appeared like an inverted isosceles triangle followed by a straight line that ran straight to its posterior end.
The individual “wavy surfaces” that follow from top to bottom along the straight line are each called an “isomer”.
The creature probably might have appeared to be lying flat on the ground like a plane leaf.
It is considered that Dickinsonia might have been an earlier pre-historic “experiment” that brought forth the present complex life forms on Earth.
The nature of Dickinsonia
Through different debates regarding the nature of the creature, a science journal from the year 2018 concluded Dickinsonia as an animal in relation to fungi, protists or animals.
Its discovery and genus form an essential connection between the present complex organisms and the earlier simple ones.
The discovery of the Dickinsonia species in the Indian subcontinent raises a question regarding the evolution of life on Earth.
Its biological anatomy has created a significant shift in evolution from tiny life form to massive ones.
The study of Dickinsonia offers a relatively better understanding regarding the formation of complicated large creatures.
Archaeological discoveries do not offer a definitive framework about the evolution of life.
But, they can help to bridge the gaps left in the evolutionary theories through new discoveries.
New archaeological proofs have made evolution experts alter their theories over time.
The discovery of the animal called “Dickinsonia" has caused such a condition in the present time.
