Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Laser–Raman imagery of Earth's earliest fossils

Abstract

Unlike the familiar Phanerozoic history of life, evolution during the earlier and much longer Precambrian segment of geological time centred on prokaryotic microbes1. Because such microorganisms are minute, are preserved incompletely in geological materials, and have simple morphologies that can be mimicked by nonbiological mineral microstructures, discriminating between true microbial fossils and microscopic pseudofossil ‘lookalikes’ can be difficult2,3. Thus, valid identification of fossil microbes, which is essential to understanding the prokaryote-dominated, Precambrian 85% of life's history, can require more than traditional palaeontology that is focused on morphology. By combining optically discernible morphology with analyses of chemical composition, laser–Raman spectroscopic imagery of individual microscopic fossils provides a means by which to address this need. Here we apply this technique to exceptionally ancient fossil microbe-like objects, including the oldest such specimens reported from the geological record, and show that the results obtained substantiate the biological origin of the earliest cellular fossils known.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Optical photomicrographs showing carbonaceous (kerogenous) filamentous microbial fossils in petrographic thin sections of Precambrian cherts.
Figure 2: Digital optical images and corresponding Raman images.
Figure 3: Typical spectral bands of parts of fossils shown in Fig. 1 used for Raman imaging (Fig. 2) and the spectrum of immersion oil used to enhance the optical image of some specimens.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Schopf, J. W. in The Proterozoic Biosphere, A Multidisciplinary Study (eds Schopf, J. W. & Klein, C.) 587–593 (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Schopf, J. W. & Walter, M. R. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere, Its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 214–239 (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mendelson, C. V. & Schopf, J. W. in The Proterozoic Biosphere, A Multidisciplinary Study (eds Schopf, J. W. & Klein, C.) 865–951 (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Schopf, J. W. in The Proterozoic Biosphere, A Multidisciplinary Study (eds Schopf, J. W. & Klein, C.) 25–39 (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Schopf, J. W. Microfossils of the Early Archean Apex chert: new evidence of the antiquity of life. Science 260, 640–646 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Buick, R. Carbonaceous filaments from North Pole, Western Australia: are they fossil bacteria in Archean stromatolites? Precambrian Res. 24, 157–172 (1984).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Awramik, S. M., Schopf, J. W. & Walter, M. R. Carbonaceous filaments from North Pole, Western Australia: are they fossil bacteria in Archean stromatolites? A discussion. Precambrian Res. 39, 303–309 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Buick, R. Carbonaceous filaments from North Pole, Western Australia: are they fossil bacteria in Archean stromatolites? A reply. Precambrian Res. 39, 311–317 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hayes, J. M., Des Marais, D. J., Lambert, I. B., Strauss, H. & Summons, R. E. in The Proterozoic Biosphere, A Multidisciplinary Study (ed. Schopf, J. W. & Klein, C.) 81–134 (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. House, C. H. et al. Carbon isotopic composition of individual Precambrian microfossils. Geology 28, 707–710 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kudryavtsev, A. B., Schopf, J. W., Agresti, D. G. & Wdowiak, T. J. In situ laser–Raman imagery of Precambrian microscopic fossils. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 823–826 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Schopf, J. W. & Fairchild, T. R. Late Precambrian microfossils: a new stromatolitic microbiota from Boorthanna, South Australia. Nature 242, 537–538 (1973).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Barghoorn, E. S. & Tyler, S. A. Microorganisms from the Gunflint chert. Science 147, 563–577 (1965).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Walsh, M. M. & Lowe, D. R. Filamentous microfossils from the 3,500-Myr-old Onverwacht Group, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa. Nature 314, 530–532 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Schopf, J. W. & Packer, B. M. Early Archean (3.3-billion to 3.5-billion-year-old) microfossils from Warrawoona Group, Australia. Science 237, 70–73 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Tuinstra, F. & Koenig, J. L. Raman spectra of graphite. J. Chem. Phys. 53, 1126–1130 (1970).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Williams, K. P. J., Nelson, J. & Dyer, S. The Renishaw Raman Database of Gemological and Mineralogical Materials. (Renishaw Tranducers Systems Division, Gloucestershire, England, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  18. McMillan, P. F. & Hofmeister, A. M. Infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Rev. Mineral. 18, 99–159 (1988).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank M. Walsh for loan of the Kromberg specimens; The Natural History Museum, London, for loan of the Apex specimens; and J. Shen-Miller for manuscript review. This work was supported by grants from the JPL/CalTech Astrobiology Center (to J.W.S.) and from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exobiology Program (to T.J.W.). A.D.C. is an NSF predoctoral Fellow. The Raman imaging facility at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is a consequence of the vision of L. DeLucas.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. William Schopf.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schopf, J., Kudryavtsev, A., Agresti, D. et al. Laser–Raman imagery of Earth's earliest fossils. Nature 416, 73–76 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/416073a

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/416073a

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing