5 ms·
The fossil record. There is little evidence of very complex animal life before about 541 million years ago, which is when the Cambrian explosion begun.
by delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
The fossil record. There is little evidence of very complex animal life before about 541 million years ago, which is when the Cambrian explosion begun.
- TheBlight 3y agoGiven the surface of the planet is such a dynamic environment, I wonder how much evidence we should expect even if it did exist. See also: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-an-industrial-prehuman-civilization-have-existed-on-earth-before-ours/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-an-industri...
- Rebelgecko 3y agoThere's quite a few fossils showing single-celled organisms from 3+ billion years ago. I imagine if more complex life existed the fossils could've survived
- no_wizard 3y agoWhen you say very little, do you mean none, or there is some questionable evidence? I'm genuinely curious
- dudinax 3y agoBefore "modern" life evolved in the pre-cambrian era, there was the Ediacaran life forms that were complex multicellular life, but died out millions of years before the Cambrian explosion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ediacaran_biota https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ediacaran_biota