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When did Life Arrive on Land? (Organic-walled microfossils, *FUNGI* Arctic, Canada)


Oxytropidoceras

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How Did Life Arrive on Land? A Billion-Year-Old Fungus May Hold Clues

A cache of microscopic fossils from the Arctic hints that fungi reached 

land long before plants. Carl Zimmer, New York Times, May 22, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/science/fungi-fossils-plants.html

 

The paper is:

 

Loron, C.C., Rainbird, R.H., Turner, E.C., Greenman, J.W. and Javaux, E.J., 

2019. Organic-walled microfossils from the late Mesoproterozoic to 

early Neoproterozoic lower Shaler Supergroup (Arctic Canada): 

Diversity and biostratigraphic significance. Precambrian Research, 

321, pp.349-374.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329839018_Organic-walled_microfossils_from_the_late_Mesoproterozoic_to_early_Neoproterozoic_lower_Shaler_Supergroup_Arctic_Canada_Diversity_and_biostratigraphic_significance

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Corentin_Loron

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/J_Wilder_Greenman

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030192681830216X

 

Yours, 

 

Paul H.

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Interesting.  I wonder what they fed on, as fungi are not primary producers and rely on dead or alive organic material (especially plants) as a food source.  Maybe bacterial biofilm?

 

Don

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16 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Interesting.  I wonder what they fed on, as fungi are not primary producers and rely on dead or alive organic material (especially plants) as a food source.  Maybe bacterial biofilm?

Most likely, though radiotrophic is a possibility, too.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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59 minutes ago, Auspex said:

Most likely, though radiotrophic is a possibility, too.

See this article from a Stanford student about radiotrophic fungi that use ionizing radiation as an energy source.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/white-t2/

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My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

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1 hour ago, DPS Ammonite said:

... radiotrophic fungi that use ionizing radiation as an energy source.

Since the high end of ultraviolet is an ionizing radiation, early lifeforms on the early Earth could have evolved to take advantage of it.

An interesting thought experiment, in any case.;)

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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  • FossilDAWG locked this topic

Topics merged. ;) 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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I think Tim (Fossildude19) did the merge as I was posting.  Anyway, good end result with everything in one place.

 

Don

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There is a fossil called Diskagma that is about 2.2byo and it's thought to be terrestrial, and resembles a type of fungus, but of course it's not clear what it really was. I need to find the paper on that one, but it could indicate that life on land goes back much further.

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1 hour ago, Wrangellian said:

There is a fossil called Diskagma that is about 2.2byo and it's thought to be terrestrial, and resembles a type of fungus, but of course it's not clear what it really was. I need to find the paper on that one, but it could indicate that life on land goes back much further.

 

 

Retallack, G.J., Krull, E.S., Thackray, G.D., Parkinson, D. 2013

Problematic urn-shaped fossils from a Paleoproterozoic (2.2 Ga) paleosol in South Africa.

Precambrian Research, 235:71-87  PDF LINKInterview: Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio

 

image.png.32d88a398398ab9f29ceed2a6bdccf0f.png

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That's the one, thanks Scott.

I see there is mentioned/pictured an even older organism, Thucomyces, 2.8byo!

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  • Fossildude19 changed the title to When did Life Arrive on Land? (Organic-walled microfossils, *FUNGI* Arctic, Canada)

Topics merged. ;) 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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5 hours ago, Scylla said:

Billion year old microfossil pushes back earliest chitin, earliest fungi, earliest terrestrial fossil.

 

https://interestingengineering.com/billion-year-old-fossil-fungi-push-back-records-by-over-450-million-years

 

3 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Topics merged. ;) 

My memory is slipping, I did see oxytropidoceras post earlier:DOH:

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