Complex and highly regulated
development of Dickinsonia, one of the oldest fossil animals, broadens our
understanding of early evolution
Date: May 17, 2017
Source: University of California
- Riverside
More than 550 million years ago,
the oceans were teeming with flat, soft-bodied creatures that fed on microbes
and algae and could grow as big as bathmats. Today, researchers at the
University of California, Riverside are studying their fossils to unlock the
secrets of early life.
In their latest study, published
today in the journal PLOS ONE, Scott Evans, a graduate student in the
Department of Earth Sciences, and Mary Droser, a professor of paleontology,
both in UCR's College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, show that the
Ediacaran-era fossil animal Dickinsonia developed in a complex, highly regulated
way using a similar genetic toolkit to today's animals. The study helps place Dickinsonia
in the early evolution of animal life, and showcases how the large, mobile sea
creature grew and developed.
Dickinsonia was a flat,
oval-shaped creature that ranged in size from less than an inch to several
feet, and is characterized by a series of raised bands -- known as modules --
on its surface. These animals are of interest to paleontologists because they
are the first to become large and complex, to move around, and form
communities, yet little is known about them. For years, scientists have been
debating the taxonomic status of Dickinsonia -- placing it with fungi, marine
worms and jellyfish, to name a few. It is now generally accepted that Dickinsonia
was an animal, now extinct.
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