An article published in the journal “Nature” in December is
causing discussions among paleontologists. The reason is that
according to Gregory Retallack, a geologist at the University of
Oregon in Eugene, life on land began 65 million years earlier
than is generally estimated. The research carried out by Gregory
Retallack concers Ediacara fossils, which date back to a period
ranging from about 635 to 542 million years ago and have always
been the center of controversy in the field of paleontology. The
first organisms belonging to the Ediacaran biota were found in
1868 but only after many years researchers started realizing
their importance. At the time, the study of fossils was still in
a primitive stage and there were religious reasons that hindered
it. In the first half of the twentieth century, the situation
improved and not accidentally an important finding for the
research on these ancient fossils occurred in the Ediacara
Hills, Australia, in 1946. Despite these findings, scientists
kept on believing tha