And Study on fossil remains in a rock in Australia points to the origin of Amniotas, a common ancestor of mammals, reptiles and birdsIt happened between 35 and 40 million years before what was thought.
This finding is really extraordinary and enlightening for experts, because he suggests that Vertebrated animals needed less time to leave the aquatic environment and to adapt to life on earth.
The implications of these studies are deep. If the dates are correct, traditional ideas must be assessed About the origin of Amniotas and consider an earlier and more accelerated schedule for differentiation with regard to amphibians.
Fossil remains of a amniotic fluid reed
The finding of the traces of the claws of a amniotic fluid (an ancestor of the reptiles) 356 million years ago fossilized in a rock shows that the origin and evolution of these vertebrates was earlier than expected.
The details of the study, led by the University of Uppsala, in Sweden, and made in collaboration with scientists from Poland and Australia, were published in Nature Magazine on Wednesday. The origin of life on earth began at sea. No It took about 150 million years later when the first tetropods (four pots) left the marine medium and reached the mainland.
The Tetrapods They were the ancestors of the Amniotas and the modern amniotic fluid (the group with current reptiles, birds and mammals), the true colonizers of the earth. The chronology seems clear: the first tetrapods – peeled into fish – evolved in the devonic period and, then, the first members of the modern groups, the Amniotas, in the following period, the carboon.
In The fossil record, the first kept amniotes are from the late Carboon, about 320 million years agoAs a result, the researchers thought that the point of the evolutionary tree in which the ancestors of the amphibians and the amniotas were separated into the early carboon, 355 million years ago.
However, A lot of early carbon -containing sandstone, about 356 million years, discovered by two amateur paleontologists in Australiahas changed all this chronology. The authors believe that this finding is progressing in 35 million years, the origin of the reptiles, and therefore of the Amniotas as a whole, to the earliest carboon.
Well -preserved tracks
The plate, which measures approximately 50 cm and was found in the snow plains of Victoria (Australia) formation, contains two fingerprint sets, apparently of the same animal, some brands made 356 million years ago by the claws of amniotic fluidAbout 40 million years before the fingerprints and fossils of amnioten that are known so far.
These footprints fossils Well stored, they show long legs with claws on the tips. When analyzing the separation between the front and rear footprints, The authors believe that the old amniotic fluid can measure approximately 80 cm, although they emphasize that it is not possible to know the exact relationships of the animal.
For authors This fossil finding implies that the common ancestor of modern amniotic fluid could have existed in the border between Devonic and the Carboon (about 359 million years ago), and that the moment of separation of tetrapods (which unite the lines of modern Amniotas and Amniotas) took place at the start of the Upper Devonic (about 380 million years ago).
That is, that It is likely that the evolution of tetrapods from water beings to other fully terrestrial. “When I saw this copy for the first time, I was very surprised, within a few seconds I saw that there were clearly preserved claw brands,” says Grzegorz Niedźwedzki, from the University of Uppsala, co -author of the study.
Omnipresent claws
«The claws are present in all primitive Amniot, but almost never in other groups of tetapods. The combination of claw scratches and the shape of the feet suggests that the author of the footprints was a primitive reptile, “says the research coordinator, according to Ahlberg, of the University of Uppsala. If this interpretation is correct, The origin of the reptiles continues in 35 million years, and therefore of the amniotic fluid as a whole, to the earliest carboon.
In addition, The study offers new fingerprints of reptile fossils from Poland, which are not as old as those of AustraliaBut much more than the previous records. This recalibration of the origin of reptiles influences the entire chronology of the evolution of tetapods.
The Australian plate with the footprints «It represents the entire fossil record of Tetapoden of the earliest carboon of Gondwana, the gigantic supercontinent that includes Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia and India. Who knows what else has lived there? “He asks Ahlberg.” The most interesting discoveries are yet to come and it is still a lot to be found on the spot. These traces of Australia are only an example of this, “Niedźwiedzki is progressing. EFE / ECOTICIA.COM