Bicellum brasieri

Bicellum brasieri
Temporal range:
Multiple specimens of B. brasieri, such as the holotype (A)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Unikonta
(unranked): Obazoa
(unranked): Opisthokonta
(unranked): Holozoa
Genus: Bicellum
Species:
B. brasieri
Binomial name
Bicellum brasieri
Strother et al. 2021

Bicellum brasieri is a fossil holozoan.[1] It is about 1 billion years old and could be the oldest example of complex multicellularity in the evolutionary lineage leading to the animals.[2] It was discovered in 2021.[2]

Fossil site

Bicellum was found in sediments from the Diabaig Formation in Loch Torridon, Scotland. The Diabaig Formation, considered to represent an ancient lake deposit,[3] was already known to preserve the first non-marine eukaryotes.[4]

References

  1. Strother, Paul K.; Brasier, Martin D.; Wacey, David; Timpe, Leslie; Saunders, Martin; Wellman, Charles H. (April 2021). "A possible billion-year-old holozoan with differentiated multicellularity". Current Biology: S0960982221004243. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.051.
  2. 1 2 "Billion-year-old fossil found preserved in Torridon rocks". BBC News. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. Stewart, A. D. (2002). The Later Proterozoic Torridonian Rocks of Scotland: their Sedimentology, Geochemistry and Origin. London: the Geological Society. pp. 1–136. ISBN 1-86239-103-3.
  4. Strother, Paul K.; Battison, Leila; Brasier, Martin D.; Wellman, Charles H. (May 2011). "Earth's earliest non-marine eukaryotes". Nature. 473 (7348): 505–509. doi:10.1038/nature09943. ISSN 1476-4687.
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