Scientists were perplexed when a 500-million-year-old fossil they had discovered in an Indian cave began to peel off and revealed that it was actually a beehive.
2020 saw the cancellation of a scientific conference that was supposed to take place in India during the first pandemic lockdowns.
500-Million-Year-Old Fossil in Indian Cave
Nevertheless, a team of geologists who had already arrived at the location made the most of their time by traveling to the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, a network of caves with prehistoric cave art close to Bhopal, India. There, they discovered the fossil of Dickinsonia, a member of the mysterious Ediacara fauna, a group of creatures thought by some scientists to have been the first failed evolutionary test of multicellular organisms. The Ediacara fauna lived 500 million years ago in a shallow sea. It was the first time a fossil of this kind had ever been found in India.
The find caused quite a stir because it not only significantly increased the range of the Ediacara fauna-first discovered in Australia's Ediacara Hills-but also helped date some of the oldest rocks on the Indian subcontinent. Major news organizations, scholarly journals, and numerous Indian newspapers all covered the discovery.
Less Fossil, More Beehive
However, the "fossil" was actually a case of mistaken identity, as it turns out.
When the University of Florida researchers visited the location last year, they found an object that appeared to have significantly decayed-quite unusual for a fossil. In addition, the area is covered in enormous bee nests, and the mark discovered by scientists in 2020 resembled the specimens of enormous hives.
Joseph Meert, a professor of geology at the University of Florida and expert on the geology of the area, said that he noticed there was a problem as soon as he took a look at it. The peeling rock exposed the fossil.
The former fossil was also almost vertically positioned along the cave walls, which was strange. According to Meert, fossils in this region should only be visible on the cave structures' ceilings or floors.
Professor Manoj Pandit of the University of Rajasthan and Meert's graduate students, Ananya Singha and Samuel Kwafo, worked together on the investigation. They took pictures of similar remains from beehives found nearby and documented the object's quick decomposition. The team's research was published in the Gondwana Research journal, which had also previously reported on the accidental Dickinsonia fossil discovery.
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Beehives and Other Confusing Occurrences
When the bees leave their mud-built hive, it quickly decomposes and briefly resembles Dickinsonian animal fossils.
The lead author of the original paper and emeritus professor at the University of Oregon, Gregory Retallack, claims he and his co-authors concur with Meert's findings that the item is essentially just a beehive.
The scientific method is founded on a type of self-correction. However, it's a fact that scientists find it difficult to admit their mistakes, and it doesn't happen frequently. Retallack stated in an email that it is uncommon but crucial for scientists to acknowledge errors when new evidence is found.
Even experts find many early fossils confusing because they rarely resemble any living thing. Inorganic processes are also quite good at imitating fossils. Concretions, like bone eggs, are frequently mistaken for fossils, and some crystals grow inside rocks to create structures that eerily resemble sponges or moss plants, the University of Florida, through Forbes, reports.
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