"If we want to understand this transition, when life first became large, complex and unmistakably animal, this new site has tremendous potential." Even so, they include the oldest known animals capable of moving to find food or reproducing sexually. Before this discovery, White Sea fossils had been documented in Europe, Asia, and Australia, but not in North America. Some specimens date to approximately 567 million years ago, making them 5-10 million years older than other known White Sea fossils. The fossils indicate that these organisms lived in deeper water than scientists had previously associated with the White Sea assemblage.