The start of complex life

Until now, scientists had thought that complex life (living things made up of more than one cell – see panel) first appeared on Earth 635 million years ago. A study led by Cardiff University in Wales has now suggested this actually happened more than 1.5 billion years earlier – although not all scientists agree. The team looked at rock samples from the Franceville basin in Gabon, Africa, to work out what conditions were like there billions of years ago. Fossils (preserved traces of animals or plants) found at this site were used as evidence that complex life had developed there. Some experts said they couldn’t be fossils because they were too big to be creatures from so long ago in the Earth’s history. However, the Cardiff team’s study might change…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 452

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