The movie “Were These the First Animals?” is an in-depth look at the evolution of the first animals, or complex life forms, on Earth during the Cambrian period, approximately 540 million years ago.
Technically, the earliest living organisms on Earth evolved a billion years ago or earlier. However, these are simple unicellular or multicellular organisms that live in the ocean.
But about 540 million years ago, Earth had a period of rapid evolution and diversification of life, now known as the Cambrian Explosion. Many complex organisms arose, including many of the megafauna that exist today.
A famous example is the Ediacaran biota, a group of ancient organisms that lived during the Ediacaran period, about 56 to 540 million years ago. The informal term “Ediacaran Gardens” is used to describe the rich diversity of these creatures, which included all kinds of strange and unusual life forms, many of which are not found in modern times.
The Ediacaran biota is named after the Ediacaran Mountains in South Australia, where the first known examples of these organisms were discovered in 1946 by Australian geologist and conservationist Reg Sprigg. Fossils. Since then, Ediacaran fossils have been found in many other places around the world, including Russia, Canada, China and Namibia.
Ediacaran organisms are among the earliest known complex life forms on Earth, and their fossils provide important insights into the early evolution of life on our planet. Many Ediacarans had soft bodies without hard shells or bones, making them difficult to preserve as fossils. As such, our knowledge of the Ediacaran biota remains limited, and much of what we know is based on reasoning and interpretation.
For example, we still determine how they ate. There are theories that they are heterotrophs and obtain their nutrients by eating other organisms. Depending on where they lived, they could have been predators or even scavengers. There are also theories that some Ediacaran organisms used some form of photosynthesis to generate energy from their environment.
While we may never be able to solve these questions, ongoing research continues to try to shed light on these mysterious and intriguing ancient life forms. Learning more about these ancient organisms can provide important insights into the early evolution of life on our planet and help scientists understand how life on Earth has changed and diversified over time.
Directed by: Pete Kelly
