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INTRO----- HI GUYS I’M ALEX FARNHAM AND THIS IS ANIMALIST
NEWS. AS IT TURNS OUT SPONGEBOB MAY BE RESPONSIBLE
FOR OUR EXISTENCE! ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY PUBLISHED IN NATURE
GEOSCIENCE, SPONGES ADDED OXYGEN TO THE DEEP OCEAN AND CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT SUITABLE
FOR COMPLEX LIFE FORMS. THE RESEARCH SHOWS THAT PRIMITIVE SPONGES
COULD SURVIVE IN WATER CONTAINING VERY LOW LEVELS OF OXYGEN JUST LIKE THE OCEAN DURING
THE CRY-OH-GEN-IAN PERIOD. 700 MILLION YEARS AGO, THE FIRST SPONGES EMERGED
AND BEGAN FILTER FEEDING TO COLLECT TINY PARTICLES OF ORGANIC MATTER FROM SIMPLE ANIMALS AND
COMPLEX CELLS. DEAD MICROBIAL MATTER CONSUMES OXYGEN AS IT
ROTS, THEREFORE THE MORE DEAD ORGANISMS THERE ARE, THE MORE OXYGEN IS NEEDED.
SO BY FILTER FEEDING, SPONGES HELPED RAISE THE OCEAN’S OXYGEN SUPPLY BY DECREASING
THE AMOUNT OF ROTTING ORGANISMS. DURING THE NEXT ONE HUNDRED MILLION YEARS,
THE OCEAN’S OXYGEN LEVELS GRADUALLY INCREASED, MEANING MORE OXYGEN RELIANT LIFE COULD BEGIN
EVOLVING. THE FIRST PREDATORY ANIMALS WITH INTESTINES
APPEARED AROUND 650 MILLION YEARS AGO AND BEGAN FORMING THE FIRST COMPLEX FOOD CHAINS.
THIS NEW STUDY CHALLENGES THE LONG STANDING BELIEF THAT A MAJOR BOOM IN ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN
OCCURRED AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER IT IS WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT THE FIRST LAND ANIMALS EVOLVED
FROM MARINE SPECIES. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? DO WE HAVE SPONGES
TO THANK FOR OUR EXISTENCE? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER VIDEOS AND BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE DOWN BELOW.
BYE!