Earth's Early Ecoystems Were Far More Complex Than Previously Thought

It turns out that Earth's very first ecosystems were far more complex than previously thought. Computer simulations have revealed the some of the first large, complex organisms on Earth formed complex ecosystems.

In this latest study, the researchers studied the fossils of an extinct organism, called Tribrachidium, which lived 555 million years ago. The researchers used a computer modeling approach called computational fluid dynamics in order to see how this organism fed. It turns out that it used suspension feeding, and collected particles suspended in water. This particular feeding mechanism had not previously been documented in organisms from this period of time.

This period of time was called the Ediacaran, which ranged from 635 million to 541 million years ago. This period was characterized by a variety of large, complex organisms, most of which are difficult to link to any modern species. Previously, researchers believed that these organisms formed simple ecosystems characterized by only a few feeding modes. This latest study, though, suggests that they were capable of more types of feeding than previously expected.

"For many years, scientists have assumed that Earth's oldest complex organisms, which lived over half a billion years ago, fed in only one or two different ways," said Simon Darroch, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our study has shown this to be untrue, Tribrachidium and perhaps other species were capable of suspension feeding. This demonstrates that, contrary to our expectations, some of the first ecosystems were actually quite complex."

The findings reveal a bit more about the Earth's ancient past. They show that, contrary to common expectations, ecosystems were actually complex during this time.

The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

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