ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2022
A case for an active eukaryotic marine biosphere during the Proterozoic era.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Environmental phylogenetics supports a steady diversification of crown eukaryotes starting from the mid-Proterozoic.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Primary Stress Factors and Adaptive Mechanisms of Microalgae in Space Environments and Their Applications in Space Life Support Systems.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Earth system simulations suggest that the Proterozoic ocean was greener but less productive.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Breathing life into the boring billion: Direct constraints from 1.4 Ga fluid inclusions reveal a fair climate and oxygenated atmosphere.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- A diverse Palaeoproterozoic microbial ecosystem implies early eukaryogenesis.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- The evolution of Gaia(s).Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Proterozoic microfossils continue to provide new insights into the rise of complex eukaryotic life.Royal Society open science · 2024Review
- Cryogenian Origins of Multicellularity in Archaeplastida.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Constraining the oxygen requirements for modern microbial eukaryote diversity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Nitrate limitation in early Neoproterozoic oceans delayed the ecological rise of eukaryotes.Science advances · 2023Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
The microfossil record demonstrates the presence of eukaryotic organisms in the marine ecosystem by about 1,700 million years ago (Ma). Despite this, steranes, a biomarker indicator of eukaryotic organisms, do not appear in the rock record until about 780 Ma in what is known as the "rise of algae." Before this, it is argued that eukaryotes were minor ecosystem members, with prokaryotes dominating both primary production and ecosystem dynamics. In this view, the rise of algae was possibly sparked by increased nutrient availability supplying the higher nutrient requirements of eukaryotic algae. Here, we challenge this view. We use a size-based ecosystem model to show that the size distribution of preserved eukaryotic microfossils from 1,700 Ma and onward required an active eukaryote ecosystem complete with phototrophy, osmotrophy, phagotrophy, and mixotrophy. Model results suggest that eukaryotes accounted for one-half or more of the living biomass, with eukaryotic algae contributing to about one-half of total marine primary production. These ecosystems lived with deep-water phosphate levels of at least 10% of modern levels. The general lack of steranes in the pre-780-Ma rock record could be a result of poor preservation.
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