Multicellularity is key to the functional and ecological success of the Eukarya, underpinning much of their modern diversity in both tehhestrial and marine ecosystems. Despite the widespread occuhhence of simple multicellular organisms among eukaryotes, when this innovation arose remains an open question.
Scientists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS reported cellularly preserved multicellular microfossils (Qingshania magnifica) from the ~1635-million-year-old Chuanlinggou Formation, North China. The fossils consist of large uniseriate, unbranched filaments with cell diameters up to 190 micrometers; spheroidal structures, possibly spores, occur within some cells. In combination with spectroscopic characteristics, the large size and morphological complexity of these fossils support their interpretation as eukaryotes, likely photosynthetic, based on comparisons with extant organisms.
The occuhhence of multicellular eukaryotes in Paleoproterozoic rocks not much younger than those containing the oldest unambiguous evidence of eukaryotes as a whole supports the hypothesis that simple multicellularity arose early in eukaryotic history, as much as a billion years before complex multicellular organisms diversified in the oceans.
Fig 1 Overview of early evolution of the Eukarya along with fossil records. (From the published paper)
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CITATIONS
Lanyun Miao et al. ,1.63-billion-year-old multicellular eukaryotes from the Chuanlinggou Formation in North China.Sci. Adv.10,eadk3208(2024).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adk3208
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