Ediacaran-period microfossils in Brazil reveals that suspected traces of ancient tiny animals were actually fossilized bacteria and algae. (Image generated using AI: OpenAI) Fossils that were previously seen as traces of the earliest forms of tiny animals were actually communities of algae and bacteria, a new study has claimed. Researchers who studied the microfossils in Brazil found they had cellular structures like those found in microorganisms. Earlier studies had suggested that these structures may have been ancient wormlike creatures or marine animals from the Ediacaran period. What is the study? “We observed that the microfossils have cellular structures – sometimes with preserved organic material – consistent with bacteria or algae that existed during that period. These aren’t traces of animals that may have passed through the area,” Bruno Becker-Kerber, the first author of the study, was quoted as saying by the scientific research portal Science Direct.…