What were some of Earth's oldest and most mysterious living things like?

Scientists dig the fossils of one of the first representatives of life on the planet. It is not yet known whether they were animals, plants or another category.

Scientists at University College London have studied CT scanning one of the oldest and most enigmatic inhabitants on Earth. The experts digitized the fossils of the species Rangea, which "lived" about 600 million years ago in the Ediacarano period. Their remains are so scarce and so poorly preserved that researchers are still aware if they were plants, animals, or a different way of life.

Still, scientists are sure they are the "first truly large, multicellular organisms that have spread widely before the evolution of true animals," said study leader Alana Sharp, quoted by New Scientist magazine.



At that distant time, the multicellular living beings that inhabited the Earth had not developed firm membranes, even being able to reach up to two meters in height. Those that can be found to this day have been preserved in the form of "seals". However, two fossils of Rangea, found in Namibia, have the three-dimensional shape, which could be digitized. They are two specimens of the species Rangea.

The Rangea grew to about ten centimeters and had a shape similar to the leaves of ferns. "It's the first look inside this Rangeomorphs species," and thanks to it it was possible to see "its inner structure and the central core," Sharp said.

The apparatus showed that the Rangea had a cone-shaped channel inside its central trunk, which probably served as a kind of primitive skeleton. This helped him maintain his structure.

Six symmetrical leaves emerged from the central trunk, making their horizontal cut look like an orange. Researchers believe the six cups inflated like balloons to "feed themselves." Apparently, the Rangeas fed by absorbing food through their membranes and, as they inflated, they increased their surface in order to "eat" more.