| Ikaria wariootia Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Artist's restoration | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | ParaHoxozoa |
| Clade: | Bilateria |
| Genus: | †Ikaria Evans et al, 2020 |
| Species: | †I. wariootia
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| Binomial name | |
| †Ikaria wariootia Evans et al, 2020
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Ikaria wariootia is an early example of a wormlike, 2–7 mm-long (0.1–0.3 in) bilaterian organism. Its fossils are found in rocks of the Ediacara Member of South Australia that are estimated to be between 560 and 555 million years old.[1] A representative of the Ediacaran biota, Ikaria lived during the Ediacaran period, roughly 15 million years before the Cambrian, when the Cambrian explosion occurred and where widespread fossil evidence of modern bilaterian taxa appear in the fossil record.[1][2][3]
- ^ a b Evans, Scott D.; Hughes, Ian V.; Gehling, James G.; Droser, Mary L. (23 March 2020). "Discovery of the oldest bilaterian from the Ediacaran of South Australia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (14): 7845–7850. doi:10.1073/pnas.2001045117. PMC 7149385. PMID 32205432.
- ^ Davis, Nicola (23 March 2020). "Fossil hunters find evidence of 555m-year-old human relative". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ancestor of all animals identified in Australian fossils". Phys.org. 23 March 2020.