> I was under the impression that the scientific consensus today was that multicellular life only appeared once.

If that's the case, then the relevant Wikipedia article [1] will need a major correction. They reference multiple sources which are more likely to interest you.

Multiple independent emergence of multicellular life didn't really surprise me, considering how often unicellular life mutates. I'm actually surprised by the suggestion that the opposite is the current scientific consensus. Do you have any sources for that? (Not a challenge. Just want to understand the situation and misconceptions if any.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicellular_organism#Occurre...

I was confused with Eukaryote cells