Engineering technology pinpoints earliest signs of animal life
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 09:56
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Scientists using revolutionary new technology developed at The University of Nottingham have recorded the earliest evidence of animal life so far. Using a scientific technique known as Hydropyrolysis (using hydrogen gas at high pressure) they have been able to date chemical fossils discovered in sedimentary rocks in Oman. The high-precision technique has shown that these fossil steroids, remnants of a type of sponge known as Demosponges, are between 635 and 750 million years old. They date back to around the time of the Marinoan glaciation, the last of the huge ice ages at the end of the Neoproterozoic era...