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4h ago

Canadian Fossils Push Origins of Animal Movement and Sex Back 567 Million Years

Researchers say the deep‑water site implies key animal traits emerged offshore and will drive more excavation and museum study

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Complex animal life may be 10 million years older than scientists thought — and a new fossil site in northwestern Canada suggests it all started in the deep sea, not the shallow waters where most early fossils show up
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Overview

  • A peer‑reviewed paper published Thursday in Science Advances reports more than 100 Ediacaran fossils from the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories.
  • The specimens are dated to about 567 million years ago, which moves evidence for active locomotion and coordinated sexual reproduction several million years earlier than previous White Sea records.
  • Identifiable taxa include Dickinsonia, Funisia, Kimberella and Eoandromeda, with fossils showing movement, seafloor scraping and clustered reproduction that signal early bilaterian organization and sexual spawning.
  • The fossils occur in deeper‑water sediment, supporting a developing hypothesis that complex animal traits first arose offshore, and hundreds of feet of overlying rock offer large potential for more discoveries.
  • Specimens will be accessioned at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, the work was conducted with Sahtú Dene and Métis guidance, and researchers plan further fieldwork supported by NSF and NASA grants.