The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Precise age of Bangiomorpha pubescens dates the origin of eukaryotic photosynthesis
Abstract
Although the geological record indicates that eukaryotes evolved by 1.9–1.4 Ga, their early evolution is poorly resolved taxonomically and chronologically. The fossil red alga Bangiomorpha pubescens is the only recognized crown-group eukaryote older than ca. 0.8 Ga and marks the earliest known expression of extant forms of multicellularity and eukaryotic photosynthesis. Because it postdates the divergence between the red and green algae and the prior endosymbiotic event that gave rise to the chloroplast, B. pubescens is uniquely important for calibrating eukaryotic evolution. However, molecular clock estimates for the divergence between the red and green algae are highly variable, and some analyses estimate this split to be younger than the widely inferred but poorly constrained first appearance age of 1.2 Ga for B. pubescens. As a result, many molecular clock studies reject this fossil ex post facto. Here we present new Re-Os isotopic ages from sedimentary rocks that stratigraphically bracket the occurrence of B. pubescens in the Bylot Supergroup of Baffin Island and revise its first appearance to 1.047 +0.013/–0.017 Ga. This date is 150 m.y. younger than commonly held interpretations and permits more precise estimates of early eukaryotic evolution. Using cross-calibrated molecular clock analyses with the new fossil age, we calculate that photosynthesis within the Eukarya emerged ca. 1.25 Ga. This date for primary plastid endosymbiosis serves as a benchmark for interpreting the fossil record of early eukaryotes and evaluating their role in the Proterozoic biosphere.
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“More recent analyses have tended to resolve an older LECA, with ages closer to 1 Ga being less plausible on the basis of fossils from that period that can uncontroversially be assigned to crown Archaeplastida.”
From ATP synthase evolution on a cross-braced dated tree of life (2023) · cites this paper as [101]
In the citing paper
“and emergence of the crown group, expressed in simple multicellular red algae, is placed at ∼1.05 Ga (Butterfield, 2000; Gibson et al., 2018)”
From Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview (2021) · cites this paper as Gibson et al., 2018
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Cites
A Molecular Timeline for the Origin of Photosynthetic Eukaryotes
Yoon, H. S., Hackett, J. D., Ciniglia, C., Pinto, G., & Bhattacharya, D. (2004) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msh075 · Cited by 945
Estimating the timing of early eukaryotic diversification with multigene molecular clocks
Parfrey, L. W., Lahr, D. J. G., Knoll, A. H., & Katz, L. A. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1110633108 · Cited by 899 · cited 5×
“However, the timing and tempo of early eukaryotic evolution are unclear (Berney and Pawlowski, 2006; Parfrey et al., 2011; Shih and Matzke, 2013).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialThe endosymbiotic origin, diversification and fate of plastids
Keeling, P. J. (2010) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0103 · Cited by 783
A molecular timescale of eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular life
Hedges, S. B., Blair, J. E., Venturi, M. L., & Shoe, J. L. (2004) · BMC Evolutionary Biology · doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-2 · Cited by 578
Mackenzie igneous events, Canada: Middle Proterozoic hotspot magmatism associated with ocean opening
LeCheminant, A. N., & Heaman, L. M. (1989) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(89)90122-2 · Cited by 504
Megascopic Eukaryotic Algae from the 2.1-Billion-Year-Old Negaunee Iron-Formation, Michigan
Han, T.-M., & Runnegar, B. N. (1992) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1631544 · Cited by 463
Tracing the Thread of Plastid Diversity through the Tapestry of Life
Delwiche, C. F. (1999) · The American Naturalist · doi:10.1086/303291 · Cited by 429
Morphological and ecological complexity in early eukaryotic ecosystems
Javaux, E. J., Knoll, A. H., & Walter, M. R. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35083562 · Cited by 418
Paleobiological Perspectives on Early Eukaryotic Evolution
Knoll, A. H. (2014) · Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology · doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a016121 · Cited by 394
Heaman, L. M., LeCheminant, A. N., & Rainbird, R. H. (1992) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(92)90078-a · Cited by 367
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- 2009, 187Re-187Os geochronology of Precambrian organic-rich sedimentary rocks, 85
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Strassert, J. F. H., Irisarri, I., Williams, T. A., & Burki, F. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22044-z · Cited by 298
Cyanobacteria and biogeochemical cycles through Earth history
Sánchez-Baracaldo, P., Bianchini, G., Wilson, J. D., & Knoll, A. H. (2022) · Trends in Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.tim.2021.05.008 · Cited by 279
Cyanobacteria evolution: Insight from the fossil record
Demoulin, C., Lara, Y. J., Cornet, L., François, C., Baurain, D., Wilmotte, A., & Javaux, E. (2019) · Free Radical Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.05.007 · Cited by 239
Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview
Lyons, T. W., Diamond, C. W., Planavsky, N. J., Reinhard, C. T., & Li, C. (2021) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2418 · Cited by 211
“…to 1.6 Ga stem eukaryote remains (Zhu et al., 2016), and emergence of the crown group, expressed in simple multicellular red algae, is placed at *1.05 Ga (Butterfield, 2000; Gibson et al., 2018) and more recently with reports of macroscopic multicellular green algae at *1.0 Ga (Tang et al., 2020).”
BackgroundInfluentialTriple oxygen isotope evidence for limited mid-Proterozoic primary productivity
Crockford, P. W., Hayles, J. A., Bao, H., Planavsky, N. J., Bekker, A., Fralick, P. W., Halverson, G. P., Bui, T. H., Peng, Y., & Wing, B. A. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0349-y · Cited by 196
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Gibson, T. M., Shih, P. M., Cumming, V. M., Fischer, W. W., Crockford, P. W., Hodgskiss, M. S. W., Wörndle, S., Creaser, R. A., Rainbird, R. H., Skulski, T. M., & Halverson, G. P.
- Affiliations
- Geotop (CA)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Geological Survey of Canada (CA)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Geology
- Publisher
- Geological Society of America
- Published
- 2017-12-08
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-138
- ISSN
- 0091-7613 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2771649706
- Cited by
- 217
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 6.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geology (publishedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Keywords
- eukaryotic origin, red algae, plastid endosymbiosis, molecular clock calibration, Re-Os isotopes, Proterozoic, multicellularity
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