This undated image courtesy of The Australian National University shows, organically preserved “Dickinsonia” fossil from the White Sea area of Russia.<br />A strange fossil that looks a bit like a giant leaf, or a fingerprint the size of a coffee table, has puzzled scientists for decades. Was it a mossy plant? A giant single-celled amoeba? A failed experiment of evolution? Or the earliest animal on Earth? After digging one of these fossils off a cliff in Russia and analyzing its contents, researchers discovered molecules of cholesterol, a type of fat. And they found their answer. The creature, known as Dickinsonia, is the Earth’s earliest known animal. / AFP PHOTO / AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY / Ilya Bobrovskiy/ Australian Nati / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY…
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