Animals may have evolved vastly earlier than fossil evidence suggests

October 2, 2026 · 12:00 am 2 sources

Image: Nature

Coverage

Wires & papers of record

• Stunning fossil shows dinosaurs' distinctive path to flight
  Nature · October 2, 2026 00:00
  Nature, Published online: 02 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03126-8 A fossil from a previously undiscovered species with feathery limbs, unearthed in China, adds to evidence that dinosaurs and birds evolved flight more than once.

More coverage

• Animals may have evolved vastly earlier than fossil evidence suggests
  Phys.org · October 2, 2026 18:00
  The earliest animals may have evolved hundreds of millions of years before their first unmistakable fossils appear in the fossil record, according to a new study led by the University of Oxford. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest animals may have originated deep in the…