Abstract The Precambrian rock record contains numerous examples of microscopic organic filaments and spheres, commonly interpreted as fossil microorganisms. Microfossils are among the oldest traces life on Earth, making their correct identification crucial to our understanding early evolution. Yet, spherical filamentous objects composed carbon sulfur can form in abiogenic reaction sulfide with ...

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The freshwater sponge species Ephydatia cf. facunda Weltner, 1895 (Spongillida, Spongillidae) is reported for the first time as a fossil from middle Eocene lake sediments of the Giraffe kimberlite maar in northern Canada. The sponge is represented by birotule gemmuloscleres as well as oxea megascleres. Today, E. facunda inhabits warm-water bodies, so its presence in the Giraffe locality provide...

Chili peppers (Capsicum spp.) are widely cultivated food plants that arose in the Americas and are now incorporated into cuisines worldwide. Here, we report a genus-specific starch morphotype that provides a means to identify chili peppers from archaeological contexts and trace both their domestication and dispersal. These starch microfossils have been found at seven sites dating from 6000 year...

Biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the famous dinosaur beds of Tendaguru Formation, Tanzania, East Africa are still under discussion. Calcareous microfossils have not yet contributed to this question . Four samples from the Middle Dinosaur Member have now yielded charophyte gyrogonites of the species Aclistochara c£ bransonii, Aclistochara cf. minor, Mesochara canellata, and Mesochara harrisi....