How We Identified One of Earth’s Earliest Animals

The key to solving the puzzle of Precambrian life was a tiny bit of fossilized fat.

How We Identified One of Earth’s Earliest Animals Eons

Premiered July 29, 2020
How We Identified One of Earth’s Earliest Animals

Scientists had no idea what type of organisms the life forms of the Ediacaran were—lichen, colonies of bacteria, fungi or something else. It turns out, the key to solving the puzzle of Precambrian life was a tiny bit of fossilized fat.

About the Program

Eons

Join hosts Michelle Barboza-Ramirez, Kallie Moore, and Blake de Pastino as they take you on a journey through the history of life on Earth. From the dawn of life in the Archaean Eon through the Mesozoic Era — the so-called “Age of Dinosaurs” -- right up to the end of the most recent Ice Age.

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