The Paleoproterozoic fossil record: Implications for the evolution of the biosphere during Earth's middle-age

Javaux, Emmanuelle J.; Lepot, Kevin

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.10.001

Cited by 158Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsOrigins and Evolution of LifeEvolution and Paleontology Studies

The Paleoproterozoic fossil record: Implications for the evolution of the biosphere during Earth's middle-age

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Javaux, Emmanuelle J., Lepot, Kevin·2018·Earth-Science Reviews

DOI 10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.10.001

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Abstract

The Paleoproterozoic (2.5–1.6 Ga) Era is a decisive time in Earth and life history. The paleobiological record (microfossils, stromatolites, biomarkers and isotopes) illustrates the biosphere evolution during a time of transitional oceanic and atmosphere chemistries. Benthic microfossil assemblages are recorded in a variety of oxygenated, sulfidic, and ferruginous environments representative of the spatial heterogeneities and temporal variations characteristic of this Era. The microfossil assemblages include iron-metabolizing and/or iron-tolerant prokaryotes, sulfur-metabolizing prokaryotes, cyanobacteria, other undetermined prokaryotes, and eukaryotes. The undetermined microfossils represent a majority of the assemblages and thus raise a challenge to determine the nature and role of microorganisms in these changing environments. Despite the early evolution of the eukaryotic cellular toolkit, early eukaryotic crown group diversification may have been restrained in the Paleoproterozoic by ocean chemistry conditions, but it increased during the late Mesoproterozoic–early Neoproterozoic despite the continuation of similar conditions through the (miscalled) “boring billion”, then amplified significantly (but perhaps within lower taxonomic levels), with the demise of euxinic conditions and increase in ecological complexity. The emerging picture is one of a changing and more complex biosphere in which the three domains of life, Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya, were diversifying in various ecological niches marked by the diversification of identified microfossils, stromatolites, increasing abundance of preserved biomarkers, and appearance of macroscopic problematic fossils or trace fossils.

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The first observable, datable, probable eukaryotic remains occur at ~1.7 to 1.6 Ga.
“however, the first observable, datable, probable eukaryotic remains occur at ∼1.7 to 1.6 Ga (Knoll and Nowak, 2017; Javaux and Lepot, 2018)”
From Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview (2021) · cites this paper as Javaux and Lepot, 2018

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“…studies of microfossil assemblages from the ~1.5 Ga Roper Group (Javaux and Knoll, 2017; Javaux et al., 2001) and from the 1.1 Ga El Mreiti Group (Beghin et al., 2017), where the more diversified assemblages occur in marginal to shallow shelf facies, although one species of possible eukaryote…”
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Microflora of the H.Y.C. Pyritic Shale Member of the Barney Creek Formation (McArthur Group), middle Proterozoic of northern Australia
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Terminal Proterozoic cyanobacterial blooms and phosphogenesis documented by the Doushantuo granular phosphorites I: In situ micro-analysis of textures and composition
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A critical review of mineral-microbe interaction and co-evolution: Mechanisms and applications
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Cyanobacteria evolution: Insight from the fossil record
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Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview
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“…relationship to environmental change, including dramatic and persistent shifts in atmospheric and oceanic O2 and stably oxic conditions in the surface-most waters, remains unresolved (Sperling et al., 2013b, 2016; Chen et al., 2015; Jin et al., 2016; Li et al., 2017b, 2018; Lu et al., 2018).”
Background
Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon
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The Archean origin of oxygenic photosynthesis and extant cyanobacterial lineages
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Progress towards an improved Precambrian seawater 87Sr/86Sr curve
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Pervasive aerobic nitrogen cycling in the surface ocean across the Paleoproterozoic Era
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Why do microbes make minerals?
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After the boring billion and before the freezing millions: evolutionary patterns and innovations in the Tonian Period
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False biosignatures on Mars: anticipating ambiguity
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Pulsed oxygenation events drove progressive oxygenation of the early Mesoproterozoic ocean
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Animal origins: The record from organic microfossils
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Bacterial Genes Outnumber Archaeal Genes in Eukaryotic Genomes
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1.63-billion-year-old multicellular eukaryotes from the Chuanlinggou Formation in North China
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Oxygen Reductases in Alphaproteobacterial Genomes: Physiological Evolution From Low to High Oxygen Environments
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Nitrogenase Inhibition Limited Oxygenation of Earth’s Proterozoic Atmosphere
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Prototypic SNARE Proteins Are Encoded in the Genomes of Heimdallarchaeota, Potentially Bridging the Gap between the Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
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A template for an improved rock-based subdivision of the pre-Cryogenian timescale
Shields, G., Strachan, R. A., Porter, S. M., Halverson, G. P., Macdonald, F. A., Plumb, K. A., de Alvarenga, C. J. S., Banerjee, D. M., Bekker, A., Bleeker, W., et al. (2021) · Journal of the Geological Society · doi:10.1144/jgs2020-222 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Shallow-marine ironstones formed by microaerophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria in terminal Paleoproterozoic
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Eukarya the chimera: eukaryotes, a secondary innovation of the two domains of life?
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Evidence for a Syncytial Origin of Eukaryotes from Ancestral State Reconstruction
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Triple Oxygen Isotope Trend Recorded by Precambrian Cherts: A Perspective from Combined Bulk and in situ Secondary Ion Probe Measurements
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Gene Duplications Trace Mitochondria to the Onset of Eukaryote Complexity
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Viral histones: pickpocket’s prize or primordial progenitor?
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Organic biomorphs may be better preserved than microorganisms in early Earth sediments
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Shale-hosted biota from the Dismal Lakes Group in Arctic Canada supports an early Mesoproterozoic diversification of eukaryotes
Loron, C., Halverson, G. P., Rainbird, R. H., Skulski, T., Turner, E. C., & Javaux, E. (2021) · Journal of Paleontology · doi:10.1017/jpa.2021.45 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
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Implications of selective predation on the macroevolution of eukaryotes: evidence from Arctic Canada
Loron, C., Rainbird, R. H., Turner, E. C., Greenman, J. W., & Javaux, E. (2018) · Emerging Topics in Life Sciences · doi:10.1042/etls20170153 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
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Long-lived connection between the North China and North Australian cratons in supercontinent Nuna: paleomagnetic and geological constraints
Wang, C., Li, Z., Peng, P., Pisarevsky, S., Liu, Y., Kirscher, U., & Nordsvan, A. R. (2019) · 中国科学通报：英文版 · doi:10.1016/j.scib.2019.04.028 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
A diverse organic-walled microfossil assemblage from the Mesoproterozoic Xiamaling Formation, North China
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Experimental taphonomy of organelles and the fossil record of early eukaryote evolution
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A late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) deep‐sea, low‐temperature, iron‐oxidizing microbial hydrothermal vent community from Arizona, USA
Little, C. T. S., Johannessen, K. C., Bengtson, S., Chan, C. S., Ivarsson, M., Slack, J. F., Broman, C., Thorseth, I. H., Grenne, T., Rouxel, O. J., et al. (2021) · Geobiology · doi:10.1111/gbi.12434 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Coupled Nitrate and Phosphate Availability Facilitated the Expansion of Eukaryotic Life at Circa 1.56 Ga
Wang, Z., Wang, X., Shi, X., Tang, D., Stüeken, E. E., & Song, H. (2020) · Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences · doi:10.1029/2019jg005487 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Frameworks for Interpreting the Early Fossil Record of Eukaryotes
Porter, S. M., & Riedman, L. A. (2023) · Annual Review of Microbiology · doi:10.1146/annurev-micro-032421-113254 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Geoscience for Understanding Habitability in the Solar System and Beyond
Dehant, V., Debaille, V., Dobos, V., Gaillard, F., Gillmann, C., Goderis, S., Grenfell, J. L., Höning, D., Javaux, E. J., Karatekin, Ö., et al. (2019) · Space Science Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11214-019-0608-8 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
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A case for an active eukaryotic marine biosphere during the Proterozoic era
Eckford-Soper, L., Andersen, K. H., Hansen, T. F., & Canfield, D. E. (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2122042119 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data of Late Ediacaran stromatolites from a hypersaline environment in the Tarim Basin (NW China) and their reservoir potential
Zhu, D., Liu, Q., Wang, J., Ding, Q., & He, Z. (2021) · Facies · doi:10.1007/s10347-021-00633-0 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
SIMS Pb-Pb dating of phosphates in the Proterozoic strata of SE North China Craton: Constraints on eukaryote evolution
Zhang, S., Cao, R., Lan, Z., Li, Z., Zhao, Z., Wan, B., Guan, C., & Yuan, X. (2022) · Precambrian Research · doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106562 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
New chronological and paleontological evidence for Paleoproterozoic eukaryote distribution and stratigraphic correlation between the Yanliao and Xiong’er basins, North China Craton
Lyu, D., Deng, Y., Wang, X., Ye, Y., Pang, K., Miao, L., Luo, Z., Zhang, F., Lu, Y., Deng, S., et al. (2022) · Precambrian Research · doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106577 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Meso-Neoproterozoic strata and target source rocks in the North China Craton: A review
Liu, X., Li, S., Zhang, J., Li, X., Zhao, S., Dai, L., & Wang, G. (2019) · Precambrian Research · doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2019.105458 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Early eukaryotic microfossils of the late Palaeoproterozoic Limbunya Group, Birrindudu Basin, northern Australia
Riedman, L. A., Porter, S. M., Lechte, M. A., dos Santos, A., & Halverson, G. P. (2023) · Papers in Palaeontology · doi:10.1002/spp2.1538 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Inter-cratonic geochronological and geochemical correlations of the Derim Derim–Galiwinku/Yanliao reconstructed Large Igneous Province across the North Australian and North China cratons
Nixon, A. L., Glorie, S., Collins, A. S., Blades, M. L., Simpson, A. D., & Whelan, J. (2021) · Gondwana Research · doi:10.1016/j.gr.2021.10.027 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Microbial biosignatures in ancient deep‐sea hydrothermal sulfides
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Inherited geochemical diversity of 3.4 Ga organic films from the Buck Reef Chert, South Africa
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New record of the green algal fossil Proterocladus and coexisting microfossils from the Meso-Neoproterozoic Diaoyutai Formation in southern Liaoning, North China
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Characteristics of the carbon cycle in late Mesoproterozoic: Evidence from carbon isotope composition of paired carbonate and organic matter of the Shennongjia Group in South China
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Earth’s surface oxygenation and the rise of eukaryotic life: Relationships to the Lomagundi positive carbon isotope excursion revisited
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Microbial driven iron mineral transformation and its role in pollutant migration and transformation: A critical review
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Origin and Early Evolution of the Eukaryotes: Perspectives from the Fossil Record
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Microfossils from the Paleoproterozoic Hutuo Group, Shanxi, North China: Early evidence for eukaryotic metabolism
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On the role of tectonics in stimulating the Cretaceous diversification of mammals
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Animal origins and the Tonian Earth system
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Chromium evidence for protracted oxygenation during the Paleoproterozoic
Mänd, K., Planavsky, N. J., Porter, S. M., Robbins, L. J., Wang, C., Kreitsmann, T., Paiste, K., Paiste, P., Romashkin, A. E., Deines, Y. E., et al. (2022) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117501 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Precambrian Earth: Co-evolution of life and geodynamics
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The influence of elevated SiO2(aq) on intracellular silica uptake and microbial metabolism
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A timetree of Fungi dated with fossils and horizontal gene transfers
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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
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Chemical identification of microfossils from the 1.88‐Ga Gunflint chert: Towards empirical biosignatures using laser ablation ionization mass spectrometer
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Distinguishing cellular from abiotic spheroidal microstructures in the ca. 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool Formation
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Characterization of organic matter and its implications for pyrite hosted refractory gold mineralization along the South Purulia Shear Zone, eastern India
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A search for life in Palaeoproterozoic marine sediments using Zn isotopes and geochemistry
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Authors: Javaux, E. J., & Lepot, K.
Affiliations: University of Liège (BE)
Corresponding author: Javaux, Emmanuelle J.
ORCID: Javaux, Emmanuelle J.
Lepot, Kevin
Venue: Earth-Science Reviews
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2018-01
Volume: 176
Pages: 68-86
ISSN: 0012-8252 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.10.001
OpenAlex: W2764092185
Cited by: 158
References: 284
Citations by year: 2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 8
FWCI: 6.83
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: hybrid
doi.org
Licence: cc-by-nc-nd
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (vor)
Locations: Earth-Science Reviews (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Flanders Marine Institute (Flanders Marine Institute) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
LillOA (Université de Lille (University Of Lille)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
ORBi (University of Liège) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders: RÃ©gion Hauts-de-France (iM4)
European Research Council (308074)
Fondation Francqui
Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS (FRFC 2.4.558.09)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
Keywords: Paleoproterozoic, fossil record, biosphere evolution, benthic microfossils, stromatolites, biomarkers, atmospheric oxygenation, euxinia, cyanobacteria, eukaryotic diversification, trace fossils, early eukaryotes, Mesoproterozoic

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The Paleoproterozoic fossil record: Implications for the evolution of the biosphere during Earth's middle-age

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