Have you ever imagined what life would be like without bones? It's lunchtime and you're trying to eat a sandwich, but you're trying to do it without teeth, jaw, or hands. Eating a sandwich for lunch would be impossible without a skeleton, and all of our daily activities would become impossible as well. The skeletal system is too often taken for granted. Its importance to life on Earth today is not emphasized as much as it should be. The evolution of bones is responsible for the vast differentiation of multicellular life on Earth. Dating from approximately 635 to 545 million years ago, life consisted solely of soft-bodied creatures floating in the ocean. These creatures resemble our modern-day jellyfish. So how did we get from jellyfish to modern humans with skeletons? Initiation of Bone Formation In the article by Darja Wagner and Per Aspenberg titled "Where Bone Comes From", it is stated that approximately 1.5 billion years ago, all life resided in the ocean , and the tectonic plates were actively moving at this time. The bones didn't just appear out of nowhere one day, it was several triggers that caused the transition from a soft-bodied life to a hard-bodied life. It was the movement of these tectonic plates that triggered the transition to bone (6). The movement of tectonic plates released various minerals into the oceans through hydrothermal vents. One of these different minerals released was calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and this mineral played a key role in bone formation (6). Calcium carbonate did two things for living organisms; this contributed to the breakdown of minerals absorbed by ocean water and also allowed hard structures to develop (6). Additionally,...... middle of article...... "Origin and early evolution of vertebrate skeletonization." Microscopy Research and Technique 59.5: 352-72. Print.Donoghue, Philip Conrad James, Ivan James Sansom and Jason Philip Downs. 2006 “Early evolution of vertebrate skeletal tissues and cellular interactions, and canalization of skeletal development.” Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and developmental evolution 306B.3: 278-94. Print. Kawasaki, K. and K.M. Weiss. 2008. “SCPP gene evolution and the dental mineralization continuum.” Journal of Dental Research 87.6:520-31. Print.Sire, Jean-Yves, Philip CJ Donoghue and Matthews K. Vickarious. 2009. “Origin and evolution of the integumentary skeleton in non-tetrapod vertebrates.” Journal of Anatomy 214.4: 409-40. Print. Wagner, Darja Obradovic and Per Aspenberg. 2011. “Where does bone come from? » Acta Orthopedica 82.4: 393-98. Print.