Fossil 'balls' are 1 billion years old and could be Earth's oldest known multicellular life
By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer 3 days ago
The spherical fossils came from sediments that were formerly at the bottom of a lake.
Scientists have discovered a rare evolutionary "missing link" dating to the earliest chapter of life on Earth. It's a microscopic, ball-shaped fossil that bridges the gap between the very first living creatures — single-celled organisms — and more complex multicellular life.
The spherical fossil contains two different types of cells: round, tightly-packed cells with very thin cell walls at the center of the ball, and a surrounding outer layer of sausage-shaped cells with thicker walls. Estimated to be 1 billion years old, this is the oldest known fossil of a multicellular organism, researchers reported in a new study.
Life on Earth is widely accepted as having evolved from single-celled forms that emerged in the primordial oceans. However, this fossil was found in sediments from the bottom of what was once a lake in the northwest Scottish Highlands. The discovery offers a new perspective on the evolutionary pathways that shaped multicellular life, the scientists said in the study.
Related: In images: The oldest fossils on Earth
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The tiny fossilized cell clumps, which the scientists named Bicellum brasieri, were exceptionally well-preserved in 3D, locked in nodules of phosphate minerals that were "like little black lenses in rock strata, about one centimeter [0.4 inches] in thickness," said lead study author Paul Strother, a research professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College's Weston Observatory.
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more: https://www.livescience.com/billion-year-old-fossil-animal-evolution.html
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