Nature & Environment
Ancient Fossils Reveal How the World's First Animals Had Sex
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Aug 04, 2015 07:35 AM EDT
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of reproduction in a complex organism. A new study of 565 million-year-old fossils has identified how some of the first complex organisms on Earth--possibly some of the first to exist--actually reproduced.
The researchers used statistical techniques to assess the distribution of populations of a type of rangeomorph called Cractofusus. These animals lived about 565 million years ago and reproduced by taking a join approach.
In this latest study, the researchers used statistical techniques to assess the distribution of populations of a type of rangeomorph called Fractofusus. The scientists saw that larger "grandparent" rangeomorphs were randomly distributed in their environment. However, these larger animals were surrounded by distinct patterns of smaller "parents" and "children." This clustering actually resembles the biological clustering observed in modern plants.
"Rangeomorphs don't look like anything else in the fossil record, which is why they're such a mystery," said Emily Mitchell, one of the researchers, in a news release. "But we've developed a whole new way of looking at them, which has helped us understand them a lot better-most interestingly, how they reproduced."
The researchers believe that rapid, asexual reproduction was used through the use of stolons or runners. At the same time, the distribution of larger "grandparent" individuals suggests that they were the result of waterborne propagules, which could have been either sexual or asexual in nature.
"Reproduction in this way made rangeomorphs highly successful, since they could both colonize new areas and rapidly spread once they got there," said Mitchell. "The capacity of these organisms to switch between two distinct modes of reproduction shows just how sophisticated their underlying biology was, which is remarkable at a point in time when most other forms of life were incredibly simple."
The findings are published in the journal Nature.
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First Posted: Aug 04, 2015 07:35 AM EDT
Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of reproduction in a complex organism. A new study of 565 million-year-old fossils has identified how some of the first complex organisms on Earth--possibly some of the first to exist--actually reproduced.
The researchers used statistical techniques to assess the distribution of populations of a type of rangeomorph called Cractofusus. These animals lived about 565 million years ago and reproduced by taking a join approach.
In this latest study, the researchers used statistical techniques to assess the distribution of populations of a type of rangeomorph called Fractofusus. The scientists saw that larger "grandparent" rangeomorphs were randomly distributed in their environment. However, these larger animals were surrounded by distinct patterns of smaller "parents" and "children." This clustering actually resembles the biological clustering observed in modern plants.
"Rangeomorphs don't look like anything else in the fossil record, which is why they're such a mystery," said Emily Mitchell, one of the researchers, in a news release. "But we've developed a whole new way of looking at them, which has helped us understand them a lot better-most interestingly, how they reproduced."
The researchers believe that rapid, asexual reproduction was used through the use of stolons or runners. At the same time, the distribution of larger "grandparent" individuals suggests that they were the result of waterborne propagules, which could have been either sexual or asexual in nature.
"Reproduction in this way made rangeomorphs highly successful, since they could both colonize new areas and rapidly spread once they got there," said Mitchell. "The capacity of these organisms to switch between two distinct modes of reproduction shows just how sophisticated their underlying biology was, which is remarkable at a point in time when most other forms of life were incredibly simple."
The findings are published in the journal Nature.
Related Stories
560,000-Year-Old Human Tooth Discovered by Students
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone