Title: Microbes Set the Stage for First Animals
Date: April 8, 2017
Authors: Amanda Doyle
Link: https://www.space.com/36403-microbes-set-stage-for-first-animals.html
Summary: Several researchers have found what they describe as “…odd creatures, most of which have no evidence of a circulatory or digestive system…”. These creatures existed around 541 million years ago during the Cambrian Period. These creatures, the scientists argue, might not have been animals at all.
Connection: We have talked about the eveloution of life on Earth, from microbial life to multicellular life. Somewhere between singlecelled life and multicellular life, these creatures showed up which we thought might have been the ancesters of animal life; but other kinds of life might have existed at the same time.
Critical Analysis: This article did a pretty good job explaining the science behind these researchers findings. They explain how the enviroment changed over time and alowed these creatures to evolve along with others.
Question: Do you think these microbes could still be around today in another form? Perhaps like the colonial Portuguese man o’ war?
1 Comment for “A2: Microbes in the News”
emtate
says:This was a really cool article! I really liked how in depth they went with their research methods and how the different rocks affect fossils and how their composition changes over time. I think it’s possible that these microbes could be ancestors of current day life, but it’s unlikely that they’re still around in another form. I’ve always thought of Portuguese man o’ war and other zooids as not necessarily animals, but that doesn’t mean they’re microbes. They’re defined as animals that join together to create a colony animal.