Boffins discover out which dwelling organism had intercourse first and when – and it isn’t Adam or Eve
Scientists studying ancient fossils believe the strange tube-shaped creature Funisia was reproducing millions of years earlier than previously realised
No matter what you might hope, your own generation really didn’t invent sex(Image: Getty Images)
A deep sea creature that lived 567 million years ago is thought to be the first organism on Earth to have sex, boffins say. Scientists studying ancient fossils believe the strange tube-shaped creature Funisia was reproducing millions of years earlier than previously realised.
The coral-like lifeform lived in clusters on the ocean floor long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Experts said it offers “the oldest evidence of sexual reproduction in the fossil record, likely with coordinated release of sperm and eggs”.
The discovery pushes back the origins of sexual reproduction by between five and 10 million years. Boffs uncovered more than 100 fossils while exploring a remote area of Canada’s Northwest Territories.
Among them were remains of Funisia and other bizarre early creatures from a period when complex animal life was only just emerging.
Scientists said some ancient organisms from the era resemble relatives of modern jellyfish and corals, while others look unlike anything alive today.
They previously believed complex life first developed in shallower waters before spreading into the deep ocean.
The discovery flies in the face of biblical assertions that Adam and Eve were the first to get jiggy with it.
However boffins recently discovered that the pair may actually have existed despite sceptics claims the bible is made up.
Boffs have found evidence that humans perhaps did descend from a single set of ancestors, just like the pair who feature in the Book of Genesis.
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