Picture this: One day, you pick up a stone, and in an instant, everything the scientific community thought they knew about the Earth’s natural history changes. More accurately, their understanding of the evolution of life on the planet suddenly evolves, becoming more nuanced and clearer.
This is what happened to Scott Evans, an associate professor of geology at Florida State University, and his team. While excavating at a site in Nilpena Ediacara National Park in Australia, he “flipped over a rock, brushed it off, and discovered what was obviously a trace fossil.”
Not just any fossil but a key fossil that could reshape scientists’ understanding of early life.
Getting to know Quaestio simpsonorum. “The animal is a little smaller than the size of your palm and has a question-mark shape in the middle of its body that distinguishes between the left and right side,” Evans said.
The key point is that Quaestio is the first known animal to exhibit a clear asymmetry between its left and right sides. While this may seem like a minor detail, it actually represents a significant milestone in evolutionary development.
Why is this rarity notable? More than just being rare, it’s crucial: “There aren’t other fossils from this time that have shown this type of organization so definitively. This is especially interesting as this is also one of the first animals that was capable of moving on its own,” Evans added.
Ultimately, this organism “can tell us a great deal about early developmental processes.” For instance, Evans explained, “Determining the gene expressions needed to build these forms provides a new method for evaluating the mechanisms responsible for the beginnings of complex life on this planet.” Fundamentally, today’s animals utilize the same basic genetic programming to form distinct left and right sides.
What’s next. Mary Droser, a scientist at Nilpena Ediacara National Park, said, “We’re the only planet that we know of with life.” As such, every discovery about the development of animal life on Earth is incredibly valuable for the search for life beyond our planet.
Few would have imagined that paleontology and space exploration could converge, but that’s what makes science fun.
Image | Walker Weyland/Florida State University | Will Turner
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