Phosphate biomineralization in mid-Neoproterozoic protists

Phoebe A. Cohen; J. William Schopf; Nicholas J. Butterfield; Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev; Francis A. Macdonald

doi:10.1130/G31833.1

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Research Article| June 01, 2011

Phosphate biomineralization in mid-Neoproterozoic protists

Phoebe A. Cohen;

Phoebe A. Cohen *

1

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

*

Current address: NASA Astrobiology Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA; E-mail: [email protected].

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J. William Schopf;

J. William Schopf

2

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

4

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life), University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute, Pennsylvania State University Astrobiology Research Center, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

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Nicholas J. Butterfield;

Nicholas J. Butterfield

3

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK

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Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev;

Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev

4

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life), University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute, Pennsylvania State University Astrobiology Research Center, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

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Francis A. Macdonald

1

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

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Author and Article Information

Phoebe A. Cohen *

1

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

J. William Schopf

2

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

4

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life), University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute, Pennsylvania State University Astrobiology Research Center, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

Nicholas J. Butterfield

3

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK

Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev

4

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life), University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute, Pennsylvania State University Astrobiology Research Center, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

Francis A. Macdonald

1

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

*

Current address: NASA Astrobiology Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA; E-mail: [email protected].

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Received: 18 Oct 2010

Revision Received: 21 Jan 2011

Accepted: 26 Jan 2011

First Online: 09 Mar 2017

Online ISSN: 1943-2682

Print ISSN: 0091-7613

Geology (2011) 39 (6): 539–542.

https://doi.org/10.1130/G31833.1

Abstract

The origin and expansion of biomineralization in eukaryotes played a critical role in Earth history, linking biological and geochemical processes. However, the onset of this phenomenon is poorly constrained due to a limited early fossil record of biomineralization. Although macroscopic evidence for biomineralization is not known until the late Ediacaran, we here report biologically controlled phosphatic biomineralization of scale microfossils from mid-Neoproterozoic (pre-Sturtian) strata of northwest Canada. Primary biological control on mineralization is supported by the identification of apatite in both chert-hosted and limestone-hosted specimens, the conspicuously rigid original morphology of the scale microfossils relative to co-occurring organic-walled cyanobacteria and acritarchs, and the microstructure of the constituent phosphate. Cell-enveloping mineralized scales occur in a wide range of extant protists, but the apparent restriction of phosphate scales to one modern taxon of green algae suggests a possible affiliation for these fossils. Documentation of primary phosphate biomineralization in Fifteenmile Group (Yukon Territory, Canada) microfossils greatly extends the known record of biologically controlled mineralization and provides a unique window into the diversity of early eukaryotes.

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