Fungus-like mycelial fossils in 2.4-billion-year-old vesicular basalt
@article{Bengtson2017FunguslikeMF, title={Fungus-like mycelial fossils in 2.4-billion-year-old vesicular basalt}, author={Stefan Bengtson and Birger Rasmussen and Magnus Ivarsson and Janet Muhling and Curt Broman and Federica Marone and Marco Stampanoni and Andrey Bekker}, journal={Nature Ecology \&Evolution}, year={2017}, volume={1} }
Fungi have recently been found to comprise a significant part of the deep biosphere in oceanic sediments and crustal rocks. Fossils occupying fractures and pores in Phanerozoic volcanics indicate that this habitat is at least 400 million years old, but its origin may be considerably older. A 2.4-billion-year-old basalt from the Palaeoproterozoic Ongeluk Formation in South Africa contains filamentous fossils in vesicles and fractures. The filaments form mycelium-like structures growing from a…
114 Citations
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