A new study confirms that Newfoundland and Labrador is home to the world’s oldest animal fossils.
An international research team, including geologists from Memorial University, has concluded that fossils found in rock on the Southern Shore and at Mistaken Point, are the world’s oldest evidence of animal life.
The group was able to reveal in greater detail than ever before exactly when the animals first appeared and their rate of evolution through the identification, cataloguing, and sampling of volcanic ash associated with the fossils.
Dr. Jack Matthews of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, who led the study, says the oldest fossils at Mistaken Point are at least 574 million years old.
That, says Matthews, seals Newfoundland’s position as the go-to place worldwide to study the appearance and rise of animals during the Ediacaran period.
Great news for Newfoundland & Labrador, as our new paper seals the provinces position as the go-to place to study the appearance and rise of animals.
Read more in the @MemorialU Gazette:https://t.co/D0dEoRpIdz pic.twitter.com/MaDE6yvBxa
— Dr Jack J Matthews (@jackjmatthews) July 31, 2020
