Posted on 02/14/2019 5:18:00 PM PST by Simon Green
An international and multi-disciplinary team coordinated by Abderrazak El Albani at the Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux de Poitiers (CNRS/Université de Poitiers) has uncovered the oldest fossilised traces of motility. Whereas previous remnants were dated to 570 million years ago, this new evidence is 2.1 billion years old. They were discovered in a fossil deposit in Gabon, where the oldest multicellular organisms have already been found (1). These results appear in the 11 February 2019 edition of PNAS.
A few years ago, geologist Abderrazak El Albani and his team at the Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux de Poitiers (CNRS/Université de Poitiers) discovered the oldest existing fossils of multicellular organisms in a deposit in Gabon. Located in the Franceville Basin, the deposit allowed scientists to re-date the appearance of multicellular life on Earth to 2.1 billion years -- approximately 1.5 billion years earlier than previously thought (600 million). At the time, researchers showed that this rich biodiversity co-occurred with a peak in dioxygenation of the atmosphere (2), and developed in a calm and shallow marine environment.
In this same geological deposit, the team has now uncovered the existence of fossilised traces of motility. This shows that certain multicellular organisms in this primitive marine ecosystem were sophisticated enough to move through its mud, rich in organic matter.
The traces were analysed and reconstructed in 3D using X-ray computed micro-tomography, a non-destructive imaging technique. The more or less sinuous structures are tubular, of a generally consistent diameter of a few millimetres, and run through fine layers of sedimentary rock. Geometrical and chemical analysis reveals that they are biological in origin and appeared at the same time the sediment was deposite
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
A branch of Route 66? Hehe.
What did they discover, feet?
Hard to detect fossilized single cell creatures. But modern techniques are improving geometrically.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s tracks?
I was not sure where Gabon was located in Africa.
After map research, I discovered that Gabon is the region that ripped apart from the eastern most point of Brazil when South America and Africa pulled apart around 150 million years ago.
In other words, Gabon was almost dead center in one of the great single continents that existed for billions of years before modern times.
Mobility or Motility?
I thought they unearthed an Uber Driver.
*ping*
Motility means a living thing moved. Lots of things moved, a rock rolling down hill is moving. Its something that moves using metabolic energy instead of say gravity like the rock.
The second does look like a worm tube. The first - dunno - seems a stretch from looking at the pic.
I agree, Bottom right of the left one does look a little similar to the second one though. But I think the second one could be a reverse “impression” of the original groove of an opposite clam shelled layer.
Thanks fieldmarshaldj.
Interesting that they never fed him to his own machine given that he held a pre-Revolution royal office. I suppose they valued his expertise more. And his amoral willingness to kill anyone they brought him.
They should have built the wall
Ooops. Wrong thread.
Don’t ya hate it when that happens?
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