New Ediacaran fossils; fossil GI tract (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, January 11, 2020, 12:19 (1778 days ago) @ David Turell

QUOTES: "A 55-million-year-old fossilized digestive tract found in the Nevada desert could be a key find in understanding the early history of animals on Earth.”

"An analysis of tubular fossils by scientists led by Jim Schiffbauer at the University of Missouri provides evidence of a 550 million-year-old digestive tract—one of the oldest known examples of fossilized internal anatomical structures—and reveals what scientists believe is a possible answer to the question of how these animals are connected."

DAVID: A slight bite at the Cambrian Explosion gap.

We should not underestimate the sheer amount of time involved in 550 million years! We regard even 100 years ago as another age! It’s surprising that any fossils survive that length of time with all the environmental factors that work on the bones and tissues of dead bodies! And yet fossils keep turning up. Maybe eventually there will be enough to constitute a big bite at the Cambrian Explosion gap.