https://abcnews.go.com/International/complex-life-forms-existed-15-billion-years-earlier/story?id=112377072 ABC News Video Live Shows Elections 538 Shop [ ][SUBMIT] Interest Successfully Added We'll notify you here with news about Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? [ ]OffOn LOG IN Stream on hulu Complex life forms existed 1.5 billion years earlier than previously believed, study finds Evidence was found in marine sedimentary rocks near Gabon in Central Africa. ByLeah Sarnoff July 29, 2024, 7:52 PM * * * * [complex-li] 3:34 The team's research provides strong validation for the biological affinity of the lobate macrofossils whose validity has been widely debated in the scientific community. Professor Abderrazzak El Albani, University of Poitiers, France. A team of international researchers has challenged the long-held belief that complex life forms first emerged on Earth 635 million years ago, presenting findings that show life may have existed over a billion years earlier. In a study published in Precambrian Research Monday by scientists from Cardiff University in Wales, researchers found environmental evidence that complex life existed 1.5 billion years earlier than previously believed but failed to "spread" globally. This evidence, according to the study's authors, could suggest a "two-step" evolution to complex life on Earth. [life-earth] Artist's impression of the lobate macrofossils living 2.1 billion years ago in a shallow marine inland sea created by the collision of two continents. Professor Abderrazzak El Albani, University of Poitiers, France. The evidence was found in marine sedimentary rocks from the Franceville Basin near Gabon in Central Africa, which experienced an episode of underwater volcanic activity from two Precambrian continents, or cratons, colliding 2.1 billion years ago, according to the study. "The availability of phosphorus in the environment is thought to be a key component in the evolution of life on Earth, especially in the transition from simple single-cell organisms to complex organisms like animals and plants," Dr. Ernest Chi Fru, lead author of the study from Cardiff University's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said in a press release Monday. MORE: Should private collectors be allowed to own dinosaur fossils? Sale of 'Apex' renews debate The two Precambrian cratons examined in the study are the Congo and Sao Francisco cratons, which were stable Archaean blocks that were once part of a single landmass in central Africa and eastern Brazil, according to Fru. [complex-li] The team's research provides strong validation for the biological affinity of the lobate macrofossils whose validity has been widely debated in the scientific community. Professor Abderrazzak El Albani, University of Poitiers, France. "We think that the underwater volcanoes, which followed the collision and suturing of the Congo and Sao Francisco cratons into one main body, further restricted and even cut off this section of water from the global ocean to create a nutrient-rich shallow marine inland sea," Fru said in the press release. The researchers believe that the underwater volcanic environment led the way to "cyanobacterial photosynthesis," which created a "generation of a large food resource" to enable the formation of complex life. MORE: Paleontologists discover fossils of new crocodile-like reptile species that lived 237 million years ago Large macroorganism fossils from this period have been the subject of debate by the scientific community, according to Fru, who believes the study's findings may answer questions surrounding the fossils' origins. "This would have provided sufficient energy to promote an increase in body size and greater complex behaviour observed in primitive simple animal-like life forms such as those found in the fossils from this period," Fru said. The complex life forms, however, did not spread globally from the "restricted nature" of the underwater region and eventually died out, according to the study. "While the first attempt failed to spread, the second went on to create the animal biodiversity we see on Earth today," Fru said. 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