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scienceMonday, September 28, 2026 at 02:29 AM
1.75-Billion-Year-Old Australian Mudstone Fossils Show Early Eukaryotes in Low-Oxygen Seafloor Habitats

1.75-Billion-Year-Old Australian Mudstone Fossils Show Early Eukaryotes in Low-Oxygen Seafloor Habitats

The 1.75 Ga fossils establish that early eukaryotes lived in anoxic seas, overturning oxygen-centric models of eukaryotic evolution. The study combines micropaleontology with sedimentary geochemistry on archived drill cores. Stronger evidence will require biomarker and genomic data from older strata.

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Future work must target older, deeper-water facies and integrate lipid biomarkers with single-cell genomics on exceptionally preserved specimens. Such data would test whether the first eukaryotes were obligate anaerobes and clarify the timing of mitochondrial acquisition relative to global oxygenation.

⚡ Prediction

Brocks lab: Biomarker evidence for eukaryotic steranes will appear in 2.1 Ga strata within three years of targeted drilling.

Sources (2)

  • [1]
    Primary Source(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07824-5)
  • [2]
    Supporting Source(https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg2765)