BBC Wildlife Magazine

What was the first animal on Earth?

FOR THE FIRST TWO BILLION OR SO YEARS of life on Earth, the only organisms to exist were single-celled microbes. The evolution of biological complexity was so slow in those early days that scientists have dubbed one vast stretch of this period the ‘boring billion’. Evolution is not for the impatient.

The first animals – multi-cellular life-forms that breathe oxygenmore than a colony of cells arranged so as to be able to filter food from water.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from BBC Wildlife Magazine

BBC Wildlife Magazine1 min read
Fast Answers
A gulper (or pelican) eel mostly looks like it should – long and sinuous – until it feeds, when it’s more like a balloon on a stick. This denizen of the deep is equipped with enormous jaws that extend backwards from the head, terminating in a pair of
BBC Wildlife Magazine4 min read
ALL YOU EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT THE Gila monster
NAMED AFTER THE ARIZONA GILA River basin, where they were first discovered, Gila (pronounced hee-lah) monsters are one of only a small number of venomous reptiles and the largest lizards in the USA. The creatures have a frightening reputation, especi
BBC Wildlife Magazine2 min read
Impact Of Avian Flu Is Worse Than Feared
A NEW REPORT BY THE RSPB, BTO and other conservation organisations has revealed the true impact of avian flu on the UK’s globally important populations of seabirds. According to the study, the great skua was particularly badly hit, with more than thr

Related Books & Audiobooks