That's sort of a surface view. The primary source papers in paleontology are extremely cautious about saying "this is the start". They tend to say things like "

That's sort of a surface view. The primary source papers in paleontology are extremely cautious about saying "this is the start". They tend to say things like "earliest found so far". Popularizing the papers, which really aren't that hard to understand, seems to make hedged or relative conclusions into absolutes. And if a teacher imparts absolutes, then they're not doing a good job.