Macroscopic fossils from the Chuanlinggou Formation of North China: evidence for an earlier origin of multicellular algae in the late Palaeoproterozoic

Liu, Jingqi; Zhang, Yang; Shi, Xiaoying; Chen, Anfeng; Tang, Dongjie; Yang, Tinglu

doi:10.1111/pala.12685

Cited by 3 publications

References 128 publications

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Experimental Snowball Earth Viscosity Drives the Evolution of Motile Multicellularity

Halling,

Goodson,

Hirschmann

et al. 2024

Preprint

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During the 70-million-year span of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations, low ocean temperatures beneath global sea ice increased water viscosity up to fourfold. In the absence of adaptation, unicellular organisms living in this viscous environment were limited in their ability to move and acquire nutrients. We experimentally test the hypothesis that multicellularity evolved in order to overcome this viscosity-induced metabolic deficit. In the presence of Snowball Earth viscosities, we find that populations of unicellular green algae evolve motile multicellular phenotypes in addition to other phenotypes that optimize different combinations of size and speed. As the Snowball Earth subsided and warm seas returned, the novelty of motile multicellularity permitted these organisms to take physical control over their local environment for the first time. This innovation may underpin the evolution of dominant multicellular lineages on Earth today.Significance statementBeginning 720-million years ago, two global glaciations — together known as the Snowball Earth — covered the planet with a thick layer of ice for a total of 70-million years. Several groups of complex multicellular organisms independently radiated at this time, including animals, green algae, and red algae. All of these clades include lineages with large bodies made of thousands of cells, multiple cell types, and spatial organization. At first glance, it seems that life merely survived despite the Snowball Earth glaciations. We find experimental evidence that the Snowball Earth glaciations were instead an evolutionary trigger for the diversification of complex multicellular groups.

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Experimental Snowball Earth Viscosity Drives the Evolution of Motile Multicellularity

Halling,

Goodson,

Hirschmann

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Macroscopic fossils from the Chuanlinggou Formation of North China: evidence for an earlier origin of multicellular algae in the late Palaeoproterozoic

Liu,

Zhang,

Shi

et al. 2023

Palaeontology

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Multicellular algae are the core topic for understanding the early life evolution on Earth. The timing of origin and cellular differentiation of multicellular algae, however, remains poorly constrained. The Palaeoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic is a critical period during which multicellular algae began to occur and evolve in marine environments. This paper reports well‐preserved multicellular fossils from shales of the Chuanlinggou Formation (c. 1.64 Ga) in North China, with emphasis on their holdfast and putative cellular structures. These macroalgal fossils are reasonably diversified and include Chuaria circularis, Tawuia sinensis, Tawuia robusta, Glossophyton ovalis, Glossophyton sp., Tuanshanzia sp. and Changchengia sp.; mainly preserved as carbonaceous compressions, with a few sideritized forms. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) observation revealed multicellular structures in Chuaria, confirming its biological attributes of a multicellular eukaryote and providing direct evidence that multicellular algae had already originated by the terminal Palaeoproterozoic, earlier than previously speculated. Tuanshanzia sp. and Changchengia sp. developed with a bare rhizome holdfast, suggesting that they had a benthic sessile lifestyle in their late Palaeoproterozoic oceanic habitat.

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Discoidal carbonaceous compressions from the early Mesoproterozoic Gaoyuzhuang Formation: a fossil example of microbial biofilm

Chen,

Miao,

Zhao

et al. 2024

JGS

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Discoidal carbonaceous compressions are the most common type of Precambrian macrofossils with a long temporal range starting from the late Paleoproterozoic. However, their unsolved biological nature restricts our understanding of the early evolution of macroscopic life. Here we report an assemblage of well-preserved discoidal carbonaceous macrofossils from the early Mesoproterozoic Gaoyuzhuang Formation in North China, which provides insights into this problem. They are preserved in round to elliptical shapes with sizes ranging from millimeters to several centimeters. Petrographic thin sections show that the macrofossils consist of laminated structures with alternating organic matter along with clay minerals and dolomites. Neither cellular structures nor individual microfossils were identified within them, but their regular shape, internal structures, and associated mineral constituents suggest that they are probably remains of the microbial biofilms, rather than multicellular organisms. It presents a well-preserved fossil example of microbial biofilms with macroscopic size and regular overall morphology. It further implies a possible origin of microbial biofilm for some of the early carbonaceous macrofossils and calls for detailed reexaminations of those macrofossils to exclude such possibilities. Our finding is consistent with previous studies that biofilms may have played an important role in survival for early microorganisms in the Precambrian ecosystem. Thematic collection: This article is part of the The North China Craton as a window to Earth’s middle age collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/topic/collections/the-north-china-craton-as-a-window-to-earths-middle-age

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Macroscopic fossils from the Chuanlinggou Formation of North China: evidence for an earlier origin of multicellular algae in the late Palaeoproterozoic

Cited by 3 publications

References 128 publications

Experimental Snowball Earth Viscosity Drives the Evolution of Motile Multicellularity

Experimental Snowball Earth Viscosity Drives the Evolution of Motile Multicellularity

Macroscopic fossils from the Chuanlinggou Formation of North China: evidence for an earlier origin of multicellular algae in the late Palaeoproterozoic

Discoidal carbonaceous compressions from the early Mesoproterozoic Gaoyuzhuang Formation: a fossil example of microbial biofilm

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