Professor Stefan Bengston/BBC
–
X-ray tomography image of fossilized red algae.
–
Nationalgeographic.co.id – An amazing discovery happened not long ago. Yes, two fossils plant ganggang This red is believed to be plant oldest is 1.6 billion. The red algae appear to be preserved in sedimentary rock at Chitrakoot, central India.
Indirectly, this discovery could also force scientists to reassess the time when the main lines on the tree of life first appeared on Earth.
Quoted Histecho, researchers identify small, multicellular fossils as 2 types ganggang red, one threadlike and the other round, coexist with bacteria in shallow marine environments. Until now, fossils ganggang 1.2 billion year old red from the Canadian Arctic is plant oldest known.
The researchers say that the cell structures preserved in the fossils match the ganggang red and its overall form, a primitive plant type that currently thrives in marine environments such as coral reefs, but can also be found in freshwater environments.
Type ganggang red known as nori is a common sushi ingredient. “We could have almost eaten sushi 1.6 billion years ago,” joked Therese Sallstedt, a geobiologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, who helped lead the study published in the journal PLOS Biology.
Also Read: Africa’s Oldest Plant Fossil Reveals History of Life on Earth
Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. There is evidence to suggest life first appeared in the form of marine bacteria around 3.7 to 4.2 billion years ago. Only then did plants and animals appear in the ancient seas.
“Plants have a key role to play for life on Earth, and we show here that they are much older than we know, which has had a ripple effect on our appreciation as advanced life forms emerged on the evolutionary scene,” said Sallstedt.
The fossils were found in phosphate-rich sedimentary rock from Chitrakoot in central India. The thread-like fossils contain internal cellular features including structures that appear to be part of the photosynthetic machinery, the process used by plants to convert sunlight into chemical energy.
Also Read: Earth After Humans: The Rise of Giant Animals and Micro Animals
Oxygen is a by-product of photosynthesis and the emergence of plants helps build up the oxygen content in the atmosphere. The fossil also contains a structure in the center of each cell wall that is typical of red algae.
“At that time, Earth’s soil surface was mostly barren, especially microbial life and atmospheric oxygen was at 1 to 10 percent of current levels,” said Stefan Bengtson, research assistant from the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
The fossils also represent the oldest known advanced multicellular organisms in a broad category (eukaryotes) that includes plant, fungi, and animals, which suggest complex life developed much earlier than previously thought.
PROMOTED CONTENT
Featured Videos
– .
