Researchers from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have discovered the fossils of Dickinsonia-the Earth’s oldest animal in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhimbetka rock shelters, about 40 kms away from the city of Bhopal. The fossils of Dickinsonia have been discovered first time in India.
- According to the Gondwana Research, an international journal in which the discovery paper has been published, the fossil of Dickinsonia is 17 inches long and holds answers about evolution of life.
- The fossils found in Bhimbetka are identical with Dickinsonia tenuis from the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia.
- Dickinsonia is an extinct genus of a basal animal that lived during the late Ediacaran period.
- Researchers believe they have found Dickinsonia that dates back 570 million years on the roof of the ‘Auditorium Cave’ at Bhimbetka.
- The researchers spotted the leaf-like impression 11-feet above the ground.
- The Bhimbetka Rock Shelters is a UNESCO World Heritage site for Paleolithic and Mesolithic cave art, near Bhopal.
- The Bhimbetka rock shelters were found by VS Wakankar 64 years ago.
