Multicellular Marine Life

Patterns in sedimentary rocks more than a billion years old have been interpreted by some scientists as animal tracks and burrows, suggesting very early multicellular life. However, the Ediacaran Fauna of Australia provides the first direct evidence of large, complex, multicellular animals. The Ediacaran organisms are interpreted to be soft-bodied creatures that lived together on the surface of the seafloor. Although their relationship to later animals is unclear, they may have been the ancestors to corals, jellyfish, worms, and mollusks.