Reassessing the first appearance of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria

Birger Rasmussen (), Ian R. Fletcher, Jochen J. Brocks and Matt R. Kilburn
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Birger Rasmussen: Curtin University of Technology, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia
Ian R. Fletcher: Curtin University of Technology, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia
Jochen J. Brocks: The Research School of Earth Sciences,
Matt R. Kilburn: Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia

Nature, 2008, vol. 455, issue 7216, 1101-1104

Abstract: The advent of photosynthesis: postponing the event The oldest widely accepted evidence for oxygenic photosynthesis on Earth comes from hydro-carbon biomarkers extracted from 2.7-billion-year-old shales in the Pilbara Craton of Australia, thought to be evidence of eukaryotes and photosynthetic cyanobacteria. This early date has caused controversy because of the long delay between this earliest appearance of oxygen-producing cyanobacteria and the 'great oxidation event' that caused the rise of atmospheric oxygen some 300 million years later. New work by Rasmussen et al. shows that the organic biomarkers are not of Archaean age and must have entered the rocks later, some time after about 2.2 billion years ago. The earliest unambiguous fossil evidence for eukaryotes and cyanobacteria thus reverts to 1.78–1.68 and 2.15 billion years, respectively.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07381

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