Namibia Sponge Fossils Are World's First Animals: Study

physorg.com — Scientists digging in a Namibian national park have uncovered sponge-like fossils they say are the first animals, a discovery that would push the emergence of animal life back millions of years. Feb 6, 2012 View in Crawl 4

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Namibia Sponge Fossils Are World's First Animals: Study

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emfk Feb 6, 2012

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It wouldn't surprise me if they don't eventually find that animals existed a billion years ago.

lordakuna Feb 6, 2012

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swag

akron Feb 6, 2012

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Most of the time I feel like a sponge.

wjappe Feb 6, 2012

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It took us a long time to get here, in our time frame

abduln Feb 6, 2012

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That is... Until they find the next animal that will be declared the first.

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bobfromreboot Feb 6, 2012

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Yeah, that's how science works... What is your point?

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abduln Feb 7, 2012

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No, that's not how science "works" at all. Science is just a method for testing a hypothesis. I seriously doubt that a scientist could effectively and successfully test a hypothesis along the lines of... "This is the oldest animal on Earth, ever". There is no way to practically determine this with today's limited knowledge of pre-historic animals.

The English in the article summary is declaring authoritatively that this finding is factually the oldest animal, and my point (which I shouldn't have to spell out). The summary is a flawed and grandiose statement, and is extremely likely to not be a scientific one. So again, that's not how science works.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.