Tiny Chinese seaweed is oldest green plant fossil ever found

[Judi Lynn]

Proterocladus antiquus carpeted seafloor 1bn years ago and was size of rice grain

Reuters
Mon 24 Feb 2020 18.04 EST

Scientists have found in rocks from northern China what may be the oldest fossils of a green plant ever found: tiny seaweed that carpeted areas of the seafloor 1bn years ago and were part of a primordial revolution among life on Earth.

Researchers on Monday said the plant, called Proterocladus antiquus, was about the size of a rice grain and boasted numerous thin branches, thriving in shallow water while attached to the seafloor with a root-like structure.

It may seem small, but Proterocladus – a form of green algae – was one of the largest organisms of its time, sharing the seas mainly with bacteria and other microbes. It engaged in photosynthesis, transforming energy from sunlight into chemical energy and producing oxygen.

“Proterocladus antiquus is a close relative of the ancestor of all green plants alive today,” said Qing Tang, a Virginia Tech post-doctoral researcher in paleobiology who detected the fossils in rock dug up in Liaoning province near the city of Dalian and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/24/tiny-chinese-seaweed-is-oldest-green-plant-fossil-ever-found

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Amazing that they managed to salvage a soft bodied seaweed / green algae that fossilized...

up to a billion years ago and were still able to interpret the fossilized remains as one of the first plants/sea weeds on this planet.

Thanks for sharing.