Tracking terrestrialisation: Revealing the hidden origins of animal life on land

After billions of years confined to the oceans, the emergence of life onto the continents ranks among the most pivotal milestones in the history of our planet. Despite its significance, the timing and nature of this transition remains poorly understood. In particular, little is known of how or when invertebrate animals terrestrialised.

Insects, arachnids, nematodes and other land-dwelling invertebrates account for the vast majority of biodiversity and are crucial to land-based ecosystems, yet their origins are shrouded in mystery.

Key steps in the evolution of tetrapod vertebrates from aquatic ancestors have been painstakingly reconstructed, becoming an icon of evolutionary biology and paleontology.

Understanding the earlier invertebrate invasion of land, however, has been thwarted by an especially sparse fossil record.

This project aims to overcome this barrier by using the totally untapped record of ‘Small Carbonaceous Fossils’ (SCFs).

State-of-the-art fossil extraction techniques applied at scale will be used to create the first body fossil record for earliest land invertebrates, targeting the totally unexplored first 60 million years of continental ecosystems.

Novel techniques will determine the dietary ecology of the earliest land animals, revealing the origins of continental food webs.

This new approach combined with innovative methods will place Swedish science at the forefront of evolutionary research, transforming our understanding of the dawn of animal life on land.