Ur-eukaryon: Revolution of Life Discover 1.64 billion years ago!

Ur-eukaryon: Revolution of Life Discover 1.64 billion years ago!

Potsdam, Deutschland - A fascinating thrust in the Eukaryot's evolution has now been unveiled by researchers. Around 700 million years ago, a phase of stagnating development came to an end when global ice ages paved the way for new possibilities. These changes enabled a drastic increase in biodiversity, such as Science.de . Eukaryotes, complex life forms with cell nuclei, had their origin 1.8 billion years ago, but their early development remained in the dark for a long time. Thanks to a thorough analysis of fossils, scientists have now created a life diagram that documents the development of the eukaryotes over a period of almost two billion years.

In addition, an internationally occupied research group shows that German scientists are also involved that a large number of previously unknown original eggcryotes lived in the waters of the earth around 1.64 billion years ago. This discovery, as described in the Zeit , is based on the analysis of ancient rocks. The found molecular residues, so -called protosteroids, indicate an abundant occurrence of these early life forms. This means that the idea is that eukaryotes were rare in the waters 800 million years ago. Their existence represents an important evolutionary turning point, which ultimately formed the basis for today's complex life forms.

a profound ecological change

The researchers point out that these early organisms thrive in an environment that contained far less oxygen than today's and thus adapted to the conditions at that time. However, it remains unclear what these original euckaryotes could have looked like. Her disappearance about 800 million years ago paved the way for the development of modern eukaryotes, which is one of the most profound ecological turning points in planetary history, says Benjamin Nettersheim from the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen