Megascopic Eukaryotic Algae from the 2.1-Billion-Year-Old Negaunee Iron-Formation, Michigan
Abstract
Hundreds of specimens of spirally coiled, megascopic, carbonaceous fossils resembling Grypania spiralis (Walcott), have been found in the 2.1-billion-year-old Negaunee Iron-Formation at the Empire Mine, near Marquette, Michigan. This occurrence of Grypania is 700 million to 1000 million years older than fossils from previously known sites in Montana, China, and India. As Grypania appears to have been a photosynthetic alga, this discovery places the origin of organelle-bearing eukaryotic cells prior to 2.1 billion years ago.
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Science
Volume 257 | Issue 5067
10 July 1992
10 July 1992
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Published in print: 10 July 1992
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- Tsu-Ming Han
- Bruce Runnegar
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