Exceptional preservation of fossils in an Upper Proterozoic shale

Late Proterozoic organisms must have been diverse and widely distributed, but in general their fossil record is both taxonomically and environmentally limited. Exceptional preservation of Proterozoic fossils is not unknown, but it is usually associated with silicified carbonates from restricted peri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature (London) Vol. 334; no. 6181; p. 424
Main Authors Butterfield, N J, Knoll, A H, Swett, K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 04.08.1988
Subjects
Bacteria - classification
Cyanobacteria
Environmental Microbiology
Eukaryota - classification
Fossils
Geologic Sediments - microbiology
Norway
Oceans and Seas
Paleontology
Norway
NASA Discipline Exobiology
Non-NASA Center
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Summary:Late Proterozoic organisms must have been diverse and widely distributed, but in general their fossil record is both taxonomically and environmentally limited. Exceptional preservation of Proterozoic fossils is not unknown, but it is usually associated with silicified carbonates from restricted peritidal or playa lake environments. We report here an exceptionally well preserved and distinctive assemblage of Late Proterozoic fossils from subtidal marine shales. In addition to the sphaeromorphic acritarchs and cyanobacterial sheaths routinely preserved in Proterozoic rocks, this assemblage includes multicellular algae ('seaweeds'), a diverse assortment of morphologically complex protistan vesicles, and probable heterotrophic bacteria. Thus, it provides one of the clearest and most taxonomically varied views of Proterozoic life yet reported.
ISSN:0028-0836
DOI:10.1038/334424a0