Big mug and absence of anus. Scientists have discovered our oldest ancestor – Interfax

Thinking about our evolution, are reluctant to go (though wrongly) for Neanderthal, but only to such, well, these bastards, how this microscopic, resembling a sack machine, who lived around 540 million years ago. Called it the Saccorhytus coronarious – have an elliptical body and a large hole gębowy.

If the conclusions of a study published in the journal “Nature”, are correct, it is Saccorhytus belonged to najprymitywniejszych wtóroustych and was the common ancestor of a huge number of types. And also the earliest phase of our evolution.

the Study was conducted by an international group of scientists, in particular, of the University of Cambridge in the UK and northwestern University in XI’an, in China, with the support of colleagues from other institutions in China and Germany.

Simon Conway Morris, Professor paleobiologii the evolution of Cambridge: – we Believe that as one of the first wtóroustych it may represent the origin of many diverse types.

Wtórouste this klad dwubocznie symmetric animals, which in embryonic development, the so-called pragęby formed hole odbytowy. This means that pragęba wtóroustych assumes the functions of the anus or disappears, and in its place secondarily formed anus. And on the ventral side of the embryo is formed a second hole gębowy.

wtóroustych happen today too in fact, they szkarłupne (animals such as sea stars and sea urchins) and półstrunowce, that is jelitodyszne – today living community of about 80 species of animals.

- Fossils Saccorhytusa they look like little black things, but under the microscope the level of detail in which are preserved, so that the jaw drops. All wtórouste had a common ancestor, and we believe that it is this creature, explains Professor Simon Conway Morris.

Looking at the reconstruction being difficult to understand, “family” resemblance of a person. the Saccorhytus was about a millimeter in length, and probably lived between the grains of sand on the seabed. The imprint of his body effectively preserved marine limestone. Mikroskamieniałości found in Shaanxi province in Central China. At the beginning of the Cambrian in this region was shallow sea.

Jian Han, Northwest University, China

Studies show that the animal was covered with a thin relatively elastic coating. This, in turn, gives rise to speculation that he had some muscle, he can perform a stretching movement. Moved, probably, writhing.

perhaps his most striking feature, however, was rather primitive way of eating and failure… with the removal of residues.

Saccorhytus, he had a big mouth gębową in relation to the rest of the body. Probably eat through zagarnianie water food particles or other, smaller creatures.

Despite the vast details of construction, scientists are unable to find any evidence that the animal was the anus. – If it was actually, it’s “waste” digestion just wychodziłby back through the “mouth” that from our point of view it sounds pretty gross – said Professor Conway Morris.

at the same time, he acknowledges that it may be that the team simply didn’t notice the anus, although its absence is no sensation. Other animals, like his contemporaries Gogol jelitodyszne, also have no the anus.

Important point a small conical structure within the body of your baby. Maybe they are allowed to delete połkniętej water and could be the evolutionary precursor to the gills that we see now in Pisces.

Our very distant praprzodek was also the folds or wrinkles around the hole that the authors attribute to the ability of the animal to expand its mouth to swallow quite large prey.

the Mystery remains, the role of small pores are located on the body Saccorhytusa. They can protect the animal from injury by grit – it is possible that the faculties of some kind of goo or glue, or played the role of “touch of nodules”.

Degan Shu of Northwest University: Our team has already completed several important discoveries, including an early fish, but this discovery is unique. the Saccorhytus gives us an unusual look at the first stages of the evolution of the group, which led to the appearance of the fish, and ultimately for us.

- in My opinion, this is the earliest, oldest and most primitive of wtóroustych – said Professor Morris.

tiny fossils also deserves attention, as previously discovered fossils younger wtóroustych often have several inches in length.

- This may explain why in the fossil record since there is such a hole. Just animals from this period was too microscopic, so we noticed them. In addition, they could communicate only in very exceptional cases, the researchers said.

the question is: is it possible that there is some deep and mysterious history of life on Earth, which is almost completely out of our experience, given the small size of these creatures? Need to look any further. Modern technology increasingly allows it.