South China Discovery of Oldest Animal Fossils

On 27 July 2009, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published their findings online about the oldest animals fossils yet discovered. Here are some of the highlights.

Scientists have believed that the first animals evolved in the ocean. But recently, researchers studying ancient rock samples in South China have found that the first animal fossils are preserved in ancient lake deposits, not in marine sediments as scholarly commonly assume.

For approximately 3 billion years, single-celled life form like bacteria dominated planet earth. Then, approximately 600 million years ago, the first multi-cellular animals appeared on the scene, diversifying quickly. The oldest known animal fossils in the world are preserved in South China's Doushantou Formation. These fossil beds have no adult specimens. Many of the fossils appear to be microscopic embryos.

Lakes are typically short-lived features on earth, and are not nearly as consistent environments as oceans, so it is surprising that the first evidence of animals now found is associated with lakes, which are far more variable environments than the ocean.

I call this to our attention to ponder some obvious thoughts.
1. We do not know as much as we thought we knew. It is so easy for us to get into a rut, and believe THIS is the way things are, and cannot be different. This is true in science, in medicine, in society, [ouch] in religion. We constantly need to keep our minds and hearts open to new truth which we did not know or realize before.
2. Human experiences, exposures, discoveries, and the like are VERY LIMITED. All the time, we are discovering things and ideas we thought were not so. In addition to this brief news flash, here are a couple of additional recent "discoveries."
a. On 23 July 2009, Bangladeshi conservatists discovered a rare leopard captured by villagers in the southeast of the country, suggesting that there may be hope of the survival of this animal which formerly we thought it might be extinct.
b. On 30 July 2009, in Asia, a "bald" bird was seen that had not seen for 100 years. Again, there is hope that this creature may still survive.

God is the creator and sustainer of all life on planet earth and beyond. As hard as we try, as "brilliant" as some human beings are, as "advanced" are our educational efforts, there is so much more to learn and to understand.

As we continue to learn these new discoveries which we had not known before, we should first be humble every day before God, and second stand in awe before his marvelous creation and continual manifestation.

How do these new discoveries strike YOU? Share these "revelations" with others. Let me know what you think.

John Willis