Dickinsonia Fossil | 24 Feb 2023

Fossils of an extinct species, Dickinsonia, that scientists reported in a discovery from India’s Bhimbetka Rock Shelters in 2021 have been found to be a false alarm.

Researchers after a closer look at the site revealed the Dickinsonia fossil to really be wax smeared on a rock by a beehive.

Dickinsonia is an extinct primitive animal that inhabited seabeds around Australia, China, Russia, Ukraine, in the Ediacaran period, 600-500 million years ago. It was classified as an animal after discovery of cholesterol molecules in the fossils.
It is believed to be one of the earliest animals to have existed on earth.

History and Period Span:
- The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period.
- It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting at the site in Acheulian times.
- It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 km.
Discovery: The Bhimbetka rock shelters were founded by V S Wakankar in1957.
Location: It is located in Raisen District between Hoshangabad and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
- It is about 40 kilometres south-east of Bhopal in the foothills of the Vindhya Mountains.
Paintings: Some of the Bhimbetka rock shelters feature prehistoric cave paintings and the earliest are about 10,000 years old (c. 8,000 BCE), corresponding to the Indian Mesolithic.
- Most of these are done in red and white on the cave walls.
- A multitude of themes were covered in this form of rock art and it depicted scenes like singing, dancing, hunting and other common activities of the people staying there.
  - The oldest of the cave paintings in Bhimbetka is believed to be about 12,000 years ago.