X-SciTech

Glimpses at Earliest Animal Life Ever Found

August 17, 2010 / 3:13 PM EDT / CBS News

Stromatolite column of bacterial mats in Australia; sponge fossils are between stromatolites.

Stacking autotraced rock sections results in this image; the elliptical fossil is clearly visible.

Looking east from a low-flying plane over the Little Bunkers Ranges in South Australia.

Below a cliff, a reddish bed is one of many stromatolite bioherms containing fossil sponges.

Limestone rock image containing fossils.

The stratigraphic section where the fossil sponges were discovered.

View of the Trezona Formation in the West Central Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

Researchers Laura Poppick and Blake Dyer hike down a stromatolite reef in South Australia.