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Biogeochemistry

Early animals out in the cold

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The enduring controversy about the appearance of animals in the evolutionary record takes a fresh twist with an analysis of molecular fossils that places the rise of the sponge lineage before 635 million years ago.

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Figure 1: Early animal evolution and the 24-isopropylcholestane (24-ipc) biomarker.
Figure 2: Biosynthesis of the 24-ipc precursor in different evolutionary schemes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jochen J. Brocks is at the Research School of Earth Sciences, and the Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology, the Australian National University, Canberra, 0200 ACT, Australia. jochen.brocks@anu.edu.au ,

    Jochen J. Brocks

  2. Nicholas J. Butterfield is in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK. njb1005@cam.ac.uk,

    Nicholas J. Butterfield

Authors
  1. Jochen J. Brocks
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  2. Nicholas J. Butterfield
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Brocks, J., Butterfield, N. Early animals out in the cold. Nature 457, 672–673 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/457672a

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