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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Large colonial organisms with coordinated growth in oxygenated environments 2.1 Gyr ago
Nature, Volume 466, No. 7302, Year 2010
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Description
The evidence for macroscopic life during the Palaeoproterozoic era (2.5-1.6 Gyr ago) is controversial. Except for the nearly 2-Gyr-old coil-shaped fossil Grypania spiralis, which may have been eukaryotic, evidence for morphological and taxonomic biodiversification of macroorganisms only occurs towards the beginning of the Mesoproterozoic era (1.6-1.0 Gyr). Here we report the discovery of centimetre-sized structures from the 2.1-Gyr-old black shales of the Palaeoproterozoic Francevillian B Formation in Gabon, which we interpret as highly organized and spatially discrete populations of colonial organisms. The structures are up to 12 cm in size and have characteristic shapes, with a simple but distinct ground pattern of flexible sheets and, usually, a permeating radial fabric. Geochemical analyses suggest that the sediments were deposited under an oxygenated water column. Carbon and sulphur isotopic data indicate that the structures were distinct biogenic objects, fossilized by pyritization early in the formation of the rock. The growth patterns deduced from the fossil morphologies suggest that the organisms showed cell-to-cell signalling and coordinated responses, as is commonly associated with multicellular organization. The Gabon fossils, occurring after the 2.45-2.32-Gyr increase in atmospheric oxygen concentration, may be seen as ancient representatives of multicellular life, which expanded so rapidly 1.5 Gyr later, in the Cambrian explosion. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
El-Albani, Abderrazak
France, Poitiers
Universite de Poitiers
BENGTSON, STEFAN
Unknown Affiliation
Canfield, Donald Eugene
Denmark, Odense
Syddansk Universitet
Bekker, Andrey Yu
Canada, Winnipeg
University of Manitoba
Macchiarelli, Roberto M.
France, Poitiers
Universite de Poitiers
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Mazurier, Arnaud
France, Poitiers
Société Etudes Recherches Matériaux
Hammarlund, Emma U.
Denmark, Odense
Syddansk Universitet
Sweden, Stockholm
Stockholms Universitet
Boulvais, Philippe
France, Rennes
Université de Rennes
Fontaine, Claude
France, Poitiers
Universite de Poitiers
Fürsich, Franz Theodor
Germany, Erlangen
Friedrich-alexander-universität Erlangen-nürnberg
Gauthier-Lafaye, François F.
France, Strasbourg
Institut Terre et Environnement de Strasbourg Ites
Javaux, Emmanuelle J.
Belgium, Liege
Université de Liège
Ossa Ossa, Frantz Gerard
France, Poitiers
Universite de Poitiers
Pierson-Wickmann, Anne-Catherine Catherine
France, Rennes
Université de Rennes
Riboulleau, Armelle
France, Lille
Université de Lille
Sardini, Paul
France, Poitiers
Universite de Poitiers
Vachard, Daniel
France, Lille
Université de Lille
Whitehouse, Martin J.
Sweden, Stockholm
Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet
Meunier, Alain
France, Poitiers
Universite de Poitiers
Statistics
Citations: 199
Authors: 19
Affiliations: 14
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/nature09166
ISSN:
14764687
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
Gabon