Researcher Claims Land Creatures May Not Have Come From Sea

A 635 million year old ancestor may not be an ancestor

A controversial claim has been put forth by a researcher at the University of Oregon that could shake some limbs on the tree of life. Researcher Gregory Retallack argues that ancient multicellular fossils previously thought to be ancestors of early marine life are vestiges of land-dwelling lichen or other microbial colonies.

Mr. Retallack points to Ediacaran fossils as evidence that land creatures may not have come from the sea. Ediacaran fossils date to 542-635 million years ago. They have been thought of as fossil jellyfish, worms and sea pens, but this researcher says that Ediacaran fossils are preserved in ways that are completely different from marine invertebrate fossils. Ediacaran fossils are located in iron-colored impressions like planet fossils and microbes in fossil soils.