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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: "First Sex" Found in Australian Fossils?


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Fossils of tubular creatures called Funisia dorothea that lived 565 million years ago show evidence that they may have been the first animals to engage in sexual reproduction.

The ancient creatures grew in close clusters—as seen in an artist's conception (inset)—that likely facilitated a form of mass birthing called larval spatfalls, researchers say.

Fossil photograph courtesy Droser lab, UC Riverside; Funisia illustration courtesy Daniel Garson, Droser lab, UC Riverside