NORMAN, Okla. —
There’s a new debate in paleontology, one that took me by surprise but that shows nicely how some science works.
There’s a particular type of ancient fossil called the “Ediacara fauna” found in rocks about 550 million years old. The term Ediacara is a reference to a place in Australia where the fossils were located and well-described. Similar fossils were found around the world at several locations.
The Ediacara fauna is made up of several types of small impressions left in what’s now solid rock. The impressions show simple life-forms that were flat like little pancakes or long like simple worms. They had no eyes and no legs but they were the first multicellular organisms to grace the Earth, so they were advanced forms of life in their day.
I was taught the simple little guys were animals that were flat or long because they needed to exchange gases through their skin and thus they needed considerable surface area to stay alive in the shallow seas in which they lived.
There has always been more than one way to interpret the Ediacara fauna. They may not have been animals, but perhaps lichens – an interesting life form that’s a combination of fungi and algae that help one another survive. Some paleontologists reject that view and have considered putting the Ediacara into their own “kingdom” in terms of the classification of life forms sketched by science – meaning the Ediacara were organisms that were quite unlike plants, animals, or fungi.
The limited information available from the trace impressions the Edicara left behind is what makes many different hypotheses possible. Some issues in science can be resolved by relatively clear-cut experiments in a laboratory. Paleontology isn’t like that, and unfortunately we don’t have time machines that would let us travel back to ancient times and study live and wiggling little Ediacara organisms. Instead we must do what we can with the samples of rocks and fossils we have.
Recently I was surprised to hear of a new and quite different hypothesis about our simple, little friends from prehistory. Gregory Retallack of the University of Oregon argues that the rocks of at least some Ediacara are paleosols – that’s geospeak for ancient soils. The rocks have variations in trace chemicals and different types (or isotopes) of carbon and oxygen similar to what we’d expect in soils, he says. Also, the texture of some of the rocks has a wavy surface like “elephant skin,” a phenomenon seen in some soils. So, says Retallack, the Ediacara lived in soil rather than on the seafloor.
Researchers can and should voice different ideas based on what they can come up with as they study the fossil record. It’s a sign that science is healthy when scientists disagree and have sometimes vigorous arguments about the same fossils.
But I really do wish for one simple time-machine to clear up many debates about the history of life on Earth.
---
Dr. E. Kirsten Peters was trained as a geologist at Princeton and Harvard. This column is a service of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University.
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead
Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest
Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat
Wash. State Man Arrested Following Ricin Scare
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
Today in History May 23
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
Today in History May 22
9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing
Oklahoma Family Reflects on Lost Son
