TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Scientists discover 550m-year-old bilaterian fossil in China

The new fossil species, found in the Yangtze Gorges area, is named Yilingia spiciformis. It is directly connected with its trace produced immediately before its death, allowing the researchers to unravel critical evolutionary puzzles of the bilaterally symmetric animals, also known as bilaterians.

News Desk (China Daily/Asia News Network)
Nanjing, China
Fri, September 6, 2019 Published on Sep. 6, 2019 Published on 2019-09-06T18:09:52+07:00

Change text size

Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone

Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Scientists discover 550m-year-old bilaterian fossil in China This Sept 4, 2019 shows an artist's reconstruction of Yilingia spiciformis worm. (AFP/SHUHAI XIAO / ZHE CHEN / VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY )

A

n international research team recently discovered a segmented bilaterian fossil about 550 million years old in China, which represents one of the oldest mobile and segmented animals.

The new fossil species, found in the Yangtze Gorges area, is named Yilingia spiciformis. It is directly connected with its trace produced immediately before its death, allowing the researchers to unravel critical evolutionary puzzles of the bilaterally symmetric animals, also known as bilaterians.

The research was published in the journal Nature on Thursday Beijing time by the team which consists of researchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Virginia Tech in the United States.

The origin of bilaterians with a segmented body is a monumental event in early animal evolution.

Although scientists have estimated on the basis of molecular clock analyses that mobile and segmented bilaterians existed in the Ediacaran Period (635-539 million years ago), there had previously been no convincing fossil evidence.

As one of the few Ediacaran animals demonstrably capable of producing long and continuous trails, Yilingia spiciformis sheds new light on the puzzle, according to the team.

The origin of motile animals had a profound environmental and ecological impact, and ultimately led to the Cambrian substrate and agronomic revolutions. 

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.

Share options

Quickly share this news with your network—keep everyone informed with just a single click!

Change text size options

Customize your reading experience by adjusting the text size to small, medium, or large—find what’s most comfortable for you.

Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone

Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!

Continue in the app

Get the best experience—faster access, exclusive features, and a seamless way to stay updated.