Weird Lifeform From 500 Million Years Ago Wasn't an Animal at All

We've got a curious case of mistaken identity to report. Fossils previously believed to have been left by prehistoric tentacle-bearing aquatic invertebrates called Bryozoans may in fact have been created by a different source: seaweed. 
That's the conclusion of a new study of the 500 million-year-old remains, which took a fresh look at Protomelission gateshousei fossils that were thought to represent the oldest remnants of Bryozoans on record.
As well as apparently setting the record straight, the findings again change what we know about the evolution of Bryozoans. To date they're the only fossilized animals not to be around during the Cambrian explosion, when life on Earth really started accelerating.
Weird Lifeform From 500 Million Years Ago Wasn't an Animal at All