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Biogeochemistry

Life before the rise of oxygen

Nature volume 455, pages 1051–1052 (2008)Cite this article

The discovery of molecular fossils in 2.7-billion-year-old rocks prompted a re-evaluation of microbial evolution, and of the advent of photosynthesis and rise of atmospheric oxygen. That discovery now comes into question.

Go back to Archaean time, the interval of Earth's history between about 4 billion and 2.5 billion years ago, and we're in largely unknown biological territory. Attempts to identify a fossil record of life have produced meagre results1, and controversy persists about whether certain microfossil-like structures are of biological origin2.

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Figure 1: The evolution of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria, and the rise of atmospheric oxygen.

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  1. Woodward W. Fischer is in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA. wfischer@caltech.edu,

    Woodward W. Fischer

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  1. Woodward W. Fischer
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Fischer, W. Life before the rise of oxygen. Nature 455, 1051–1052 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/4551051a

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