What makes Quaestio particularly remarkable is the unusual “backward question mark”-shaped structure on its back, making it the earliest known creature to display a consistent asymmetry in its body design.
Published Date – 22 October 2024, 07:31 PM
Scientists have uncovered fossils of a 555-million-year-old creature, Quaestio simpsonorum, in South Australia’s Nilpena Ediacara National Park, revealing what may be the earliest example of an asymmetrical body pattern in animals. This small, ancient marine organism, which moved across the ocean floor like a “marine Roomba,” feeding on microscopic algae and bacteria, represents a significant milestone in the evolution of complex life.
What makes Quaestio particularly remarkable is the unusual “backward question mark”-shaped structure on its back, making it the earliest known creature to display a consistent asymmetry in its body design. This discovery is crucial because asymmetry played a vital role in the development of more complex organisms, allowing for the evolution of differentiated body parts. In humans, for example, asymmetry allows organs like the heart and liver to occupy different sides of the body, contributing to functional complexity.
The fossils were unearthed from Nilpena, a site renowned for yielding some of the earliest known complex life forms. Despite decades of fossil excavation in this region, nothing quite like Quaestio had been previously found.
Evidence of its ability to move further excited researchers. Fossilised tracks discovered behind one of the specimens suggest that Quaestio could actively navigate the ocean floor, potentially grazing on food sources as it traveled. This combination of movement and asymmetry hints at the evolutionary advancements taking place during the Ediacaran period, which preceded the more well-known Cambrian explosion of life.
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