NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “ediacaran

  2. Shifts in Ocean Oxygenation Tied to Changes in Animal Evolution


    NAI and Exobiology Program researchers are using the isotopic composition and concentration of molybdenum in sedimentary rocks to explore how the evolution of Earth’s biota is intimately linked to the oxygenation of the oceans and atmosphere. Their results, published in PNAS, indicate two episodes of global ocean oxygenation. The first coincides with the emergence of the Ediacaran fauna ~550 million years ago, including large, motile bilaterian animals. The second, perhaps larger, oxygenation took place ~400 million years ago, well after the initial rise of animals, therefore suggesting that early metazoans evolved in a relatively low...

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  3. Early Oceans, Early Animals


    The Ediacaran Period (635-542 million years ago) was a time of fundamental environmental and evolutionary change, culminating in the first appearance of
    macroscopic animals. A new study from NAI’s ASU Team outlines a detailed record of Ediacaran ocean chemistry for the Doushantuo Formation in the Nanhua Basin, South China. Their results suggest a stratified ocean was maintained dynamically throughout the Ediacaran Period. Their model reconciles seemingly conflicting geochemical conditions proposed previously for Ediacaran deep oceans, and helps explain the patchy fossil record of early metazoans. Their paper appears in a recent issue of Science.

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  4. Eating by Osmosis


    Ediacara fossil
    New research shows that the oldest complex lifeforms on Earth likely fed by osmosis. Modular organisms lived in the nutrient-rich oceans of the Ediacaran period more than 540 million years ago. These organisms were unlike any other on Earth, and because of this they are not well understood. Now, scientists may have determined how these unique creatures were able to feed. A new study shows that they likely absorbed nutrients through their outer membrane – using a method known as ‘osmosis’. The study provides new insight into the evolution of life on Earth.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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