One of the first complex multicellular organisms ever to live on Earth? Maoyan Zhu
The first large, multicellular organisms seem to have appeared on Earth a billion years earlier than we thought – and their evolution may have been driven by a surge in oxygen.
Until recently, the prevailing wisdom was that life made the leap from simple microscopic cells to large, complex organisms about 600 million years ago. This is when blob-like creatures called the Ediacarans appeared. They were thought to be the earliest beings to vaguely resemble today’s plants and animals.
However, Chinese researchers overturned this idea in…
