1. Department of Earth Sciences and,
2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
3. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA

Correspondence to: Jake V. Bailey¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.V.B. (Email: jvbailey@usc.edu).

Abstract

In situ phosphatization¹ and reductive cell division² have recently been discovered within the vacuolate sulphur-oxidizing bacteria. Here we show that certain Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation (about 600 million years bp) microfossils, including structures previously interpreted as the oldest known metazoan eggs and embryos^{3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, can be interpreted as giant vacuolate sulphur bacteria. Sulphur bacteria of the genus Thiomargarita have sizes and morphologies similar to those of many Doushantuo microfossils, including symmetrical cell clusters that result from multiple stages of reductive division in three planes. We also propose that Doushantuo phosphorite precipitation was mediated by these bacteria, as shown in modern Thiomargarita-associated phosphogenic sites, thus providing the taphonomic conditions that preserved other fossils known from the Doushantuo Formation.

1. Department of Earth Sciences and,
2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
3. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA

Correspondence to: Jake V. Bailey¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.V.B. (Email: jvbailey@usc.edu).

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