REMAINS of a reef built 550 million years ago by the first animals to have hard shells have been discovered on dry land in Namibia.
The tiny animals that constructed the reef, known as Cloudina, evolved from soft-bodied ancestors.
Scientists at Edinburgh University found that the creatures attached themselves to fixed surfaces and each other using a natural cement made from calcium carbonate.
They may have developed their reef-building ability to protect themselves against increased threats from predators. Reefs also provided access to nutrient-rich currents at a time of growing competition for food and living space.
The development of hard biological structures sparked a dramatic increase in the biodiversity of ocean ecosystems. Professor Rachel Wood, who led the research published in the journal Science, said: "Modern reefs are major centres of biodiversity with sophisticated ecosystems. Like corals, animals build reefs to defend against predators and competitors. We have found that animals were building reefs even before the evolution of complex animal life."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article