| Another Australian first: sex? |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 25 March 2008 | |
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These fossilised organisms didn’t just multiply to reproduce as do simpler organisms, but instead used “multiple means of growing and propagating” – i.e. sexual reproduction. The two paleontologists “argue that Earth’s ecosystem has been complex for hundreds of millions of years – at least since around 565 million years ago, which is included in a period in Earth’s history called the Neoproterozoic era”, according to a UCR news release. Both work in the field of paleobiology, which until now believed that the “earliest multicellular animals were simple”, reproducing and surviving due to “evolutionary and ecological pressures that both predators and competition for food and other resources have imposed on the ecosystem.” The fossil in question is the “Funisia dorothea”, and is a tubular organism, which the researchers found had “multiple means of growing and propagating – similar to strategies used by most invertebrate organisms for propagation today.” UCR’s report says that “Funisia dorothea grew in abundance, covering the seafloor, during the Neoproterozoic, a 100 million-year period ending around 540 million years ago in Earth’s history, during which no predators were around”. Presumably this meant that the Funisia organism had plenty of time to experiment and get cosy with its neighbours. The organism resembles a rope, with the fossils appearing as 30cm long tubes. Funisia means ‘rope’ in latin, while dorothea is in homage to Droser’s mother, Dorothy. Droser said that: “How Funisia appears in the fossils clearly shows that ecosystems were complex very early in the history of animals on Earth – that is, before organisms developed skeletons and before the advent of widespread predation”. UCR’s report notes that the researchers observed that the Funisia dorothea tubes “commonly occur in closely-packed groups of five to fifteen individuals, displaying a pattern of propagation that often accompanies animal sexual reproduction.” Droser said that: “In general, individuals of an organism grow close to each other, in part, to ensure reproductive success. In Funisia, we are very likely seeing sexual reproduction in Earth’s early ecosystem – possibly the very first instance of sexual reproduction in animals on our planet.” Please read onto page 2 for further explanations on why Droser and Gehling are certain the tubes and their propagation is an indication of sexual activity. |
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