Brocks said the new study suggested the Ediacaran biota “already contained some of the creatures that gave rise to the [Cambrian] explosion, to the rise of modern animals”. The Cambrian explosion, also called the biological big bang, was a period about 538.8m years ago when almost all major animal groups started to appear in the fossil record.

Aisha Awazi, Uyghur imam (prayer leader) of a mosque in Aketao, strongly critical of the Communists as “pagans.” According to the Xinjiang Legal News, he was arrested in Aketao County in July 1996.

The whole Jap Navy, said Captain Sams, waving at a map of Japan on the wall behind him, has been steaming across the Pacific loaded for bear.

Also passing muster were the loin of lamb in a zinfandel sauce and a variation on chicken marsala served with an avocado, tomato and cheese topping.