The scientists have discovered a microorganism that they claim has not evolved in over two billion years, marking the longest ever period of absence of behavior related to evolution in a single species.
The study was conducted by the scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles.
According to the researchers, the creature that lives in deep sea doesn’t negate evolution similarly as it strengthens Darwin’s theory.
Lead study author J. William Schopf said, “The rule of biology is not to evolve unless the physical as well as biological environment changes, a theory that is consistent with Darwin. These microorganisms are well-adapted to their simple, very stable biological and physical environment.”
“If they were in an environment that did not change but they nevertheless evolved, that would have shown that our Darwinian evolution understanding was seriously flawed,” said, Schopf, who is a professor of earth, planetary and space sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Schopf and other team mates made use of a variety of spectroscopic imaging techniques in order to study the sulfur bacteria fossils that were entrenched in the rocks of varying ages under the deep sea.
Following analysis of the microorganisms embedded in the 1.8 billion-year-old rocks unearthed from Western Australia and 2.3 billion-year-old rocks collected off Chile coast provided evidence that the ancient sulfur bacteria is the exact same now as it has for over two billion years as far as look is considered.
According to Schopf, it is certainly interesting as well as unexpected that there exist some types of life that haven’t evolved for approximately half the history of the Earth. Researchers underscored that the new discovery fits very well with the ideas of Darwin.
The findings of the study have been published in the journal PNAS.
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