INTERESTING ENGINEERING - Over 500 million years ago, the ancestors of a diverse group of animals known as Ecdysozoans existed. This group includes various species of insects, arachnids, and nematode worms.
For a long time, the group’s early history was a blank page until now.
A team of researchers has identified the earliest known ecdysozoan fossil, which originated from the Precambrian era, the Ediacaran Period. The fossil is of a small, worm-like creature named Uncus dzaugisi.
The discovery fills a significant gap in the understanding of early animal evolution.
“Scientists have hypothesized for decades that this group must be older than the Cambrian, but until now its origins have remained enigmatic. This discovery reconciles a major gap between predictions based on molecular data and the lack of described ecdysozoans prior to the rich Cambrian fossils record and adds to our understanding of the evolution of animal life,” said Mary Droser, professor of geology at the University of California – Riverside, who led the study.