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Published online 8 December 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news061204-12
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Oxygen burst seen before the birth of complex life
Air to breathe may have spurred the evolution of large animals.
A sharp increase in the amount of oxygen in the air may have sparked the evolution of complex animal life. Chemical analysis of 580-million-year-old rock sediment shows oxygen levels in the deep ocean surged upwards just before large creatures appeared on the sea floor.
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