New research rules out theory that 535m-year-old Saccorhytus coronarius fossil is our earliest known ancestor
One less relative to be embarrassed about – scientists have ruled out the possibility that a 535m-year-old microscopic fossil that looks like an “angry minion” is our earliest known ancestor.
Previous research had suggested that Saccorhytus coronarius, a tiny sack-like creature with a large mouth and no anus, was an early member of a large group of animals called the deuterostomes, which vertebrates – including humans – belong to.