Jean-Jacques Dupuy, Emmanuelle Javaux, Paul Sardini, Philippe Boulvais, Martin J. Whitehouse, Andrey Bekker, Arnaud Mazurier, François Gauthier-Lafaye, Anne-Catherine Pierson-Wickmann, Armelle Riboulleau, Stefan Bengtson, Claude Fontaine, Frantz Ossa Ossa, Alain Meunier, Daniel Vachard, Roberto Macchiarelli, Donald E. Canfield, Franz T. Fürsich, Philippe Janvier, Emma U. Hammarlund, Abderrazak El Albani, Hydrogéologie, argiles, sols et altérations - UMR 6269 (HydrASA), Université de Poitiers-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Palaeozoology, Swedish Museumof Natural History, Box 50007, SE, Department of Palaeozoology, Swedish Museumof Natural History, Swedish Museumof Natural History-Swedish Museumof Natural History, Nordic Centre of Earth Evolution (NORDCEE), University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), Department of Geological Sciences [Winnipeg], University of Manitoba [Winnipeg], Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers (IC2MP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Poitiers-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC), Societe Etudes Recherches Matériaux (ERM), Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, SE, Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Department of Geological Sciences-Department of Geological Sciences, Géosciences Rennes (GR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), HydrASA (Hydrogéologie, argiles, sols et altérations), Fachgruppe PaläoUmwelt, GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)-Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Laboratoire d'Hydrologie et de Géochimie de Strasbourg (LHyGeS), École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg (ENGEES)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Paléobotanique, Paléopalynologie et Micropaléontologie (LPPM), Université de Liège, Géosystèmes - UMR 8157, Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géosystèmes, Laboratory for Isotope Geology, Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM), University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), Université de Poitiers-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg (ENGEES)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géosystèmes - FRE 3298, Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies, Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Nationale du Génie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement de Strasbourg (ENGEES)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Géosystèmes (UMR 8157), and Université de Lille
The evidence for macroscopic life during the Palaeoproterozoic era (2.5-1.6 Gyr ago) is controversial(1-5). Except for the nearly 2-Gyr-old coil-shaped fossil Grypania spiralis(6,7), which may have been eukaryotic, evidence for morphological and taxonomic bio-diversification of macroorganisms only occurs towards the beginning of the Mesoproterozoic era (1.6-1.0 Gyr)(8). 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(9). The Gabon fossils, occurring after the 2.45-2.32-Gyr increase in atmospheric oxygen concentration(10), may be seen as ancient representatives of multicellular life, which expanded so rapidly 1.5 Gyr later, in the Cambrian explosion. The evidence for macroscopic life during the Palaeoproterozoic era (2.5–1.6 Gyr ago) is controversial1,2,3,4,5. Except for the nearly 2-Gyr–old coil-shaped fossil Grypania spiralis6,7, 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)8. 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 organization9. The Gabon fossils, occurring after the 2.45–2.32-Gyr increase in atmospheric oxygen concentration10, may be seen as ancient representatives of multicellular life, which expanded so rapidly 1.5 Gyr later, in the Cambrian explosion.