UNIVERSITY MÜNSTER
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UNIVERSITY MÜNSTER |
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The very beginning is probably one of the most fascinating parts of the story of life. The oldest fossils are the approximately 3.465 Billion-year-old (Ga) microfossils from the Apex Chert, Australia. These are colonies of cyanobacteria (formerly called blue-green algae) which built real reefs. The oldest stromatolites were found in Australia and are dated 3.45 Ga.
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| Precambrian Microfossils. The oldest well dated and well preserved microsfossils were described by J.W. Schopf from the Apex Chert at Marble Bar, Western Australia. These are dated at 3.465 Ga. Microfossils from Swaziland (South Africa) have a similar age. The North American Gunflint Chert (2 Ga) is the first occurrence of Precambrian microfossils that has been discovered and published. The Belcher Group microfossils from Canada have a similar age. The Bitter Springs Chert (central Australia; 0.8 Ga) has definitely yielded the richest and best preserved association of Precambrian microfossils. | ||||
| Apex Chert microfossils (3.465 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | J. William Schopf; 1993 |
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| Swaziland microfossils, S-Africa (3.5 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | Knoll & Barghoorn |
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| Gunflint microfossils (2 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | J. William Schopf, 1993 |
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| Belcher Group microfossils (2 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | Hans J. Hofmann |
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| Bungle-Bungle microfossils, W-Austr. (1.5 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | Bruce Runnegar |
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| Cyanobacteria, N-Australia (1.5 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | John Oehler |
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| Mesoproterozoic cyanobacteria | Astrobiology at UCLA | Sergeev and others, 1995 |
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| Roper Group microfossils, N-Australia (1.4 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | C.J. Peat |
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| Bitter Springs microfossils (0.85 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | J. William Schopf, 1987 |
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| Bitter Springs cyanobacteria (0.85 Ga) | Astrobiology at UCLA | J.William Schopf, 1987 |
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| Bitter Springs, chroococcalean (0,85 Ga) | Univ. California Berkeley, Mus. Paleont. | |
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| Bitter Springs, Palaeolyngbya (0,85 Ga) | Univ. California Berkeley, Mus. Paleont. | |
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| Precambrian stromatolites | ||||
| The earliest life | Field Museum Chicago | Earth at the dawn of life (ca. 3.5 Ga) |
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| Early life | Worldwide Museum Natural History | stromatolites (ca. 2 Ga) |
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| Stromatolites | Sendai Museum, Japan | China (ca 2 Ga) |
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| Cambrian stromatolites, N-China, side view | Astrobiology at UCLA |
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| Cambrian stromatolites, N-China, top view | Astrobiology at UCLA |
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| Fossil Cyanobacteria | Univ. California Berkeley, Mus. Paleont. |
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| Older and younger stromatolites | Université Laval |
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| Fossil and Modern Stromatolites | Cushman Foundation | |
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| Modern stromatolites | ||||
| Shark Bay, Western Australia | Astrobiology at UCLA | Brian Logan |
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| Elongate stromatolites, Shark Bay | Astrobiology at UCLA | Brian Logan |
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| Shark Bay stromatolites | Astrobiology at UCLA | Brian Logan |
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| Shark Bay stromatolites | Université Laval |
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| Shark Bay stromatolites | Université Laval |
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| Shark Bay stromatolites | Université Laval |
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| Shark Bay stromatolites | Univ. California Berkeley, Mus. Paläont. | |
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| Hamelin Pool, Western Australia | Discover West Holidays |
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| Hamelin Pool, Western Australia | NatureBase National Parks |
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| Hamelin Bay | National Parks Australia |
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| Shark Bay stromatolites | Australiaphotos | |
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| Western Australia | Wayne RESA Net |
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| Western Australia | Physic Department Weber State University |
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| Shark Bay | Lamont-Doherty / Columbia University |
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| Shark Bay | Dept. Space Studies, Southwest Res. Inst. |
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| Shark Bay | Bellarmine College, Department of Biology |
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| Shark Bay | Queens University, Kingston, Ontario |
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| Modern Stromatolites Bahamas | Cyansite / Purdue |
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| Modern Cyanobacteria | ||||
| Cyanosite | Purdue University | A great reseource !! |
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| Cyanobacteria | Univ. California Berkeley, Mus. Paläont. | |
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| Cyanobacteria | Univ. Miami, Dept. Biology | |
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| Cyanophyta | Univ. Hawai, Dept. Botany | |
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| Cyanobacteria | Univ. Hawai, Dept. Botany | |
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good |
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= poor / no information |
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The last check of the list of links was done on 5 December
2002. The links give the most direct connections to pictures available
on the web; in many cases they are from sites that have additional palaeobotanical
information. The above ratings refer to:
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| © Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster |
December 2003
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