Complex animals evolved up to 10 million years earlier than previously thought, fossil discovery shows

An illustration of an ancient sea bed, with various shaped plants along the gray seafloor.

A trove of fossils uncovered in northwestern Canada suggests that complex animals evolved in North America earlier than previously thought.

The site houses more than 100 fossils, including six taxa never found in North America before, with some dating back 567 million years. The findings push back the origins of animals that can move themselves in search of food by several million years, according to a study published May 20 in the journal Science Advances.