|
|
Article: A new window on early life.(fossilized embryos dating back 570 million years found in China)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- February 16, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Since the days of Charles Darwin, theorists have puzzled over exactly what predated the Cambrian explosion about 540 million years ago, when, they argue, a short evolutionary burst produced prototypes of virtually all modern animals. Many suspected that the Precambrian creatures were small, squishy things that left behind no fossil record.
But they did leave fossils. Last week, American, Taiwanese, and Chinese researchers unveiled that discovery in Southern China: rock bearing traces of ancient marine animals and embryos that date back approximately 570 million years.
As reported in the journals Nature and Science, the animal embryos--some no larger than ...