Oldest fossil evidence of animals found - UPI.com: "'Demosponges appeared during the Neoproterozoic era, 1,000 to 542 million years ago, an era of climatic extremes and biological evolutionary developments culminating in the emergence of animals and new ecosystems,' said University of California-Riverside Assistant Professor Gordon Love. 'These sponges currently represent the oldest evidence for animals in the fossil record.'

The preserved compounds Love and colleagues discovered in the sponges, called steranes, exist in a wide variety of biochemical configurations, said Stephen Macko, program director in the National Science Foundation, which funded the research."
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Dr. Love missed an opportunity. He should have called them "Love Sponges."