The Oldest Evidence of Animal Sex Has Been Found, and It’s Mind-Boggling
Scientists have discovered the oldest fossilized evidence of sexual reproduction in animals, dating back 567 million years to the Ediacaran period. This finding, made in Canada's Northwest Territories, pushes back the timeline of animal sex by 5-10 million years. The fossils include various ancient species, providing insights into early animal life and their reproductive behaviors.
- ▪The fossils were found in the White Sea assemblage, previously unknown in North America.
- ▪Funisia is identified as the oldest example of sexual reproduction in animals from the fossil record.
- ▪The discovery includes the remains of Dickinsonia, which had never been found in North America before.
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| Original publisher | 404 Media |
| Canonical URL | https://www.404media.co/the-oldest-evidence-of-animal-sex-has-been-found-and-its-mind-boggling/ |
| Publication time | Thu, 21 May 2026 13:00:28 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-21T13:06:11.034Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-21T13:06:11.034Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | TijMwZTB6FhW |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Scientists have discovered the oldest fossilized evidence of sexual reproduction and locomotion in animals at a remote site in Canada’s Northwest Territories that dates back 567 million years to the Ediacaran period, according to a study published on Wednesday in Science Advances. According to researchers, the finding pushes the origins of animal sex back by 5-10 million years. The newly unearthed fossils were deposited in a fossil layer known as the White Sea assemblage that is preserved in parts of Russia, Asia, and Australia, but has never been found in North America before.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at 404 Media.
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