The first animals: ca. 760-million-year-old sponge-like fossils from Namibia

One of the most profound events in biospheric evolution was the emergence of animals, which is thought to have occurred some 600–650 Ma. Here we report on the discovery of phosphatised body fossils that we interpret as ancient sponge-like fossils and term them Otavia antiqua gen. et sp. nov. The...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: C. Brain, Anthony Prave, Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, Anthony Fallick, Andre Botha, Donald Herd, Craig Sturrock, Iain Young, Daniel Condon, Stuart Allison
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academy of Science of South Africa 2012-01-01
Series:South African Journal of Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/9715