Microfossils of the Early Archean Apex Chert: New Evidence of the Antiquity of Life
@article{Schopf1993MicrofossilsOT, title={Microfossils of the Early Archean Apex Chert: New Evidence of the Antiquity of Life}, author={J. William Schopf}, journal={Science}, year={1993}, volume={260}, pages={640 - 646} }
Eleven taxa (including eight heretofore undescribed species) of cellularly preserved filamentous microbes, among the oldest fossils known, have been discovered in a bedded chert unit of the Early Archean Apex Basalt of northwestern Western Australia. This prokaryotic assemblage establishes that trichomic cyanobacterium-like microorganisms were extant and morphologically diverse at least as early as ∼3465 million years ago and suggests that oxygen-producing photoautotrophy may have already…
1,211 Citations
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