Doushantuo embryos preserved inside diapause egg cysts

Leiming Yin (), Maoyan Zhu, Andrew H. Knoll, Xunlai Yuan, Junming Zhang and Jie Hu
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Leiming Yin: State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Maoyan Zhu: State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Andrew H. Knoll: Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Xunlai Yuan: State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Junming Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Jie Hu: State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

Nature, 2007, vol. 446, issue 7136, 661-663

Abstract: Microfossils: mixed message The controversy generated by the identification of phosphatized microfossils from the Doushantuo Formation in southern China as the embryos of early animals continues. A recent suggestion, that the roughly 600-million-year-old microfossils may be giant sulphur-oxidizing bacteria similar to the extant Thiomargarita, has been put to the test and found wanting — at least for some of the specimens. New observations reveal that some of the embryo-like fossils are found within elaborate organic vesicles called acritarchs, consistent with a reproductive strategy known as embryonic diapause, in which early embryos enter a dormant 'egg cyst' state. This suggests that these organisms were eukaryotes. Further arguments against the 'giant bacteria' explanation are presented online in a Brief Communications Arising contribution, which includes the suggestion that bacteria-like microfossils may have been stripped of their outer layers by the vagaries of fossil formation and preservation.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05682

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