{
  "id": 11499156,
  "title": "Animals may have evolved vastly earlier than fossil evidence suggests",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/animals-may-have-evolved-vastly-earlier-than-fossil-evidence-suggests",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-02T18:00:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-animals-evolved-vastly-earlier-fossil.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The earliest animals may have evolved hundreds of millions of years before their first unmistakable fossils appear in the fossil record, according to a new study led by the University of Oxford. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest animals may have originated deep in the Neoproterozoic Era, even before some of the most extreme ice ages in Earth's history.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Live Science",
        "title": "Animals may have evolved 200 million years earlier than previously thought, new study suggests",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/animals-may-have-evolved-200-million-years-earlier-than-previously",
        "published": "2026-10-02T18:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}