Millions of years ago, the creatures who would become the ancestors of all life, animals and humans alike, were simple, sometimes composed of individual cells.

Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) have followed fossilized footprints to a multi-legged predator that ruled the seas of the Cambrian period about half a billion years ago.

Paleontologists have discovered 515-million-year-old fossils which show that ancient animals had excellent vision and could even see in the dark.

Ancient sea creatures, that were the largest predators for millions of years, grew even larger and survived much longer than previously thought.

Life on Earth began to flourish about 3 billion years ago, possibly when primitive forms developed efficient ways to harness energy from the Sun’s light.