MICROFOSSILS OF THE EARLY ARCHEAN APEX CHERT - NEW EVIDENCE OF THE ANTIQUITY OF LIFE

被引：826
|
作者：
SCHOPF, JW
机构：
[1] UNIV CALIF LOS ANGELES,INST GEOPHYS & PLANETARY PHYS,LOS ANGELES,CA 90024
[2] UNIV CALIF LOS ANGELES,DEPT EARTH & SPACE SCI,LOS ANGELES,CA 90024
[3] UNIV CALIF LOS ANGELES,INST MOLEC BIOL,LOS ANGELES,CA 90024
来源：
SCIENCE | 1993年 / 260卷 / 5108期
关键词：
D O I：
10.1126/science.260.5108.640
中图分类号：
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号：
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要：
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 approximately 3465 million years ago and suggests that oxygen-producing photoautotrophy may have already evolved by this early stage in biotic history.
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页码：640 / 646
页数：7
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