---
title: "Earliest animals"  
description: "A short explanation of the earliest animals exist on the earth"  
author: "Anjita D."  
published: 2023-09-29  
canonical: https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/2713/earliest-animals  
category: "science and history"  
tags: ["animals", "science", "facts", "general knowledge"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Earliest animals

![Earliest animals](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/a97a65fd-0d57-43ed-bc14-c0a4c4c9afbf/images/57e0b97f-35ee-4b5f-bd4f-d2489f8738fd.jpeg) ![Earliest animals](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/a97a65fd-0d57-43ed-bc14-c0a4c4c9afbf/images/13472ee3-52d1-42b8-aa92-9cdff2545ca8.jpeg) Animals are assumed to have evolved from a group of single-celled creatures known as choanoflagellates some 800 million years ago. ![Earliest animals](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/a97a65fd-0d57-43ed-bc14-c0a4c4c9afbf/images/8478f568-d829-4aad-8d08-e109a71bb4e2.jpeg) Choanoflagellates are filter feeders with a hairy collar around their mouths. This collar aids them in catching food particles in the water. ![Earliest animals](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/a97a65fd-0d57-43ed-bc14-c0a4c4c9afbf/images/a1967f54-4e57-4207-9aab-6b9635ebc9f2.jpeg) The first animals were most likely simple organisms like sponges. ![Earliest animals](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/a97a65fd-0d57-43ed-bc14-c0a4c4c9afbf/images/1c5e421f-5411-43dc-ac5f-02b443897cf4.jpeg) Sponges are filter feeders with no nerves or muscles. They are attached to the seafloor and feed by filtering water through their bodies. ![Earliest animals](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/a97a65fd-0d57-43ed-bc14-c0a4c4c9afbf/images/a3bf2221-b9c2-45fa-92dc-1fa6905f9055.jpeg) A 2023 study discovered that comb jellies, which are sometimes mistaken for jellyfish, maybe closely linked living organisms to the first animals.

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Original Source: https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/2713/earliest-animals

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