| Earliest
evidence of complex life
Evidence of
eukaryotic cells reaches to 2.7 billion years ago, about a billion years
further back than previously recorded.
References:
Brocks, J.J. . .
. and R.E. Summons. 1999. Archean molecular fossils and the early rise
of eukaryotes. Science 285(Aug. 13):1033.
Further Readings:
Canfield, D.E.
1999. A breath of fresh air. Nature 400(Aug. 5):503.
Knoll, A.H. 1999.
A new molecular window on early life. Science 285(Aug. 13):1025.
Summons, R.E., et
al. 1999. 2-methylhopanoids as biomarkers for cyanobacterial
oxygenic photosynthesis. Nature 400(Aug. 5):554.
Sources:
Jochen J. Brocks
University of Sydney
School of Geosciences
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia
Andrew H. Knoll
Harvard University
Botanical Museum
Cambridge, MA 02138
From Science
News, Vol. 156, No. 9, August 28, 1999, p. 141. Copyright © 1999,
Science Service. |