Scientists say world’s oldest footprints belonged to tiny animalsJune 7, 2018 - 17:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Tracks left by tiny animals that crawled in sea-shore mud around 550 million years ago are the oldest footprints on Earth, say scientists, according to Mirror. Mystery surrounds the one-millimetre long creatures that made the prints, since no trace of their bodies has been found. Scientists believe they may have been a type of arthropod, the family of animals with jointed limbs that includes insects and crustaceans, or something akin to a legged worm. What is known is that the creatures burrowed as well as walked, were ‘bilaterian’ – meaning they had pairs of matching appendages – and appear to have been on the clumsy side. Their fossilised trackways and burrows were discovered in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China in a rock formation dating back between 541 and 551 million years. Previously no evidence of limbed animals has been found that pre-dates the ‘Cambrian Explosion’, the sudden surge in diversity that occurred on Earth about 510 – 541 million years ago. One unusual aspect of the footprints is that they appear somewhat irregular and disorganised, suggesting an element of clumsiness. The Chinese and American team led by Dr Shuhai Xiao, from Virginia Tech in the US, wrote in the journal Science Advances: ‘The irregular arrangement of tracks in the… trackways may be taken as evidence that the movement of their trace maker’s appendages was poorly coordinated and is distinct from the highly coordinated metachronal (wave-like) rhythm typical of modern arthropods.’ Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |