Evidence of oldest multicellular organism found in China

Scientists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology said on Wednesday that they have found evidence of multicellular organisms dating back 1.56 billion years in the northern slopes of Yanshan Mountain. From all appearances, they are the most ancient ones ever found.

The biggest fossil exhibited by the institute is 28.6 centimeters in length and 8 centimeters in width. It is estimated that the length of the organism could have reached half a meter.

Scientists previously believed that while life on Earth started 4 billion years ago, it only existed in the form of invisible microorganisms until 600 million years ago. This new finding casts doubt on that timeline.

Now scientists are asking what happened during the billion-year gap; the evolution of complex, multicellular organisms will be the focus of future research.