Summary
Research carried out by Brazilian scientists found a 540 million year old fossil, called Ghoshia januarensis, in Minas Gerais, confirming Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
540 million year old fossil is discovered in Minas Gerais
Photo: Disclosure/Matheus Denezine
Brazilian researchers found a fossil unprecedented 540 million years ago, in Minas Gerais, which places the country in the science that studies the evolution of life. Called Ghoshia januarensis, the find is a cyanobacteria 10 micrometers (or 10 millionths of a meter).
A study was published in the Cambridge scientific journal on March 18. The information was shared by the newspaper OGlobo.
Matheus Denezine, Dermeval Aparecido do Carmo, Shuhai Xiao, Qing Tang, Vladmir Sergeev, Alysson Fernandes Mazonie and Carolina Zabini, the study scientists, discovered seven species in the municipality of Januária (MG).
Denezine, a geologist at the University of Brasília (UNB) and first author of the article, states that the species was described for the first time in the world.
A cyanobacteria was present in the Precambrian period, that is, before the dinosaurs (and even animals with skeletons) exist.
“It is a discovery that places Brazil within the scope of studies on the evolution of life,” the geologist told OGlobo.
He highlights that the discovery of yet another cyanobacteria indicates that there were older fossils, which reinforces the fact thattheory of evolution by Charles Darwin, that life existed more than 500 million years ago.
The fossils were discovered in the Sete Lagoas Formation, in the São Francisco basin. The geological area runs through Minas Gerais, Goiás, Federal District and Bahia.
The research results show that the species inhabited a marine environment. It was identified in limestones belonging to this formation. Another observation that could be made from the research is that this entire region of the country was Underwater more than 540 million years ago.
The research project was conducted by UnB, received funding from several institutions, including Petrobras, in addition to collaborations and partnerships with institutions such as Unicamp, Virginia Tech (USA), Russian Academy of Sciences and Nanjing University (China).
Petrobras is involved in the study due to its interest in finding possible oil and gas reserves. The study showed that the first step towards oil development is present – that is, there is organic matter that may have reached the correct temperature for oil production, but there is no confirmation of this yet.
Source: Byte Editorial
2024-04-08 18:35:00
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