Ancient fossil may hold clues to right
Researchers studying 550-million-year-old fossils of the wormlike Spriggina have discovered evidence of directional preference. The findings suggest that the evolutionary roots of 'handedness' date back to the earliest animal life.
Why it matters
This study provides a deeper understanding of the evolutionary origins of behavioral traits that are common in modern animals, including humans.
If you happen to be right-handed, you may be able to trace the origins of that trait to a wormlike animal that lived about 550 million years ago and had a tendency to bend to the right.
Spriggina floundersi appeared in oceans during the Ediacaran Period (635 million to 542 million years ago) at the dawn of the first forms of animal life.
The small creature’s flat, segmented body, known only from fossils found in what’s now South Australia, was a stretched-out oval. It tapered to a tip at one end and had a large, curved structure at the other, making it the earliest known animal with a head.
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