'Cookie-shaped' fossils point to multicellular life

Relics of some of the first stirrings of modern life may have been uncovered.

Scientists report in the journal Nature the discovery of centimetre-sized fossils they suggest are the earliest known examples of multicellular life.

The specimens, from Gabon, are 2.1 billion years old - 200 million years older than for any previous claim.

Abderrazak El Albani and colleagues describe the fossils' distinctive appearance as resembling irregularly shaped "wrinkly cookies".

The step from single-celled to multicellular organisation was a key step in the evolution of life on Earth and set the scene for the eventual emergence of all complex organisms, including animals and plants.

The big question is whether the new West African specimens truly represent large organisms growing in a co-ordinated manner, or are merely a record of the remains of aggregations of unicellular bacteria.

The team tells Nature that its analysis of the fossils' three-dimensional structure using X-ray microtomography leans it towards the former explanation.

via BBC News - 'Cookie-shaped' fossils point to multicellular life.