The first, more complex ecosystems on Earth that believed – Informe21.com

The analysis by computer simulation of an ancient organism that lived on Earth 555 million years ago and has no descendants today has allowed an international group of researchers realize that this creature, one of the first complex life forms known, was part actually a much more complex ecosystem than previously thought.

Scientists, Canadian, American and British, worked with fossils Tribrachidium, an extremely primitive animal that lived in the Earth’s oceans about 555 million years ago. Using a technique called computational fluid dynamics, the researchers were able to see how Tribrachidium could subsist on small particles suspended in water, a form of power that until now had not been documented in organizations that distant period.

Tribrachidium lived for a time called Ediacaran Period, which covers between 635 and 541 million years ago and was characterized by a variety of large and complex organizations that, in most cases, are very difficult to marry into some kind of present. Until now, it was thought that these were very simple organisms and ecosystems that are characterized by only a few power modes, but the new study suggests they were able to feed on very different and unexpected ways. Since then, many more than it previously thought.

In the words of Simon Darroch, professor at Vanderbilt University, “For many years, scientists have assumed that the oldest complex bodies Earth, who lived more than half a billion years ago, fed only one or two ways. But our study shows that’s not true, since Tribrachidium, and perhaps other species of their environment, were able to feed on suspended particles. And that shows, contrary to what we expected, some of the first ecosystems were actually quite complex. “

Marc Laflamme, co-author, says that” Tribrachidium is unlike any modern species, so it is really difficult to know how it was when he was alive. But the application of advanced technologies, such as CT scan (Computed Tomography) and Computational Fluid Dynamics has allowed us to determine, first, how the extinct organism so long is really fed. “

The Computational Fluid Dynamics is a method to simulate the flow of fluids commonly used in engineering, for example in the design of aircraft, and this is one of its first applications the field of paleontology. With these simulations in hand, scientists were able to test the various existing theories about feeding Tribrachidium. And the technique has proved useful to improve our understanding of many other extinct organisms

Source:. ABC.es

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