Ourasphaira giraldae is an extinct process-bearing multicellular eukaryotic microorganism. Corentin Loron argues that it was an early fungus. It existed approximately a billion years ago during the time of the transition from the Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic periods, and was unearthed in the Amundsen Basin in the Canadian Arctic.[1][2][3][4] This fungus may have existed on land well before plants.[4]
| Ourasphaira giraldae Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi (?) |
| Genus: | †Ourasphaira |
| Species: | †O. giraldae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Ourasphaira giraldae Loron et al., 2019[1]
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Loron, Corentin C.; François, Camille; Rainbird, Robert H.; Turner, Elizabeth C.; Borensztajn, Stephan; Javaux, Emmanuelle J. (22 May 2019). "Early fungi from the Proterozoic era in Arctic Canada". Nature. 570 (7760). Science and Business Media LLC: 232–235. Bibcode:2019Natur.570..232L. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1217-0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 31118507. S2CID 162180486.
- ^ Loron, Corentin C.; Rainbird, Robert H.; Turner, Elizabeth C.; Greenman, J. Wilder; Javaux, Emmanuelle J. (2019). "Organic-walled microfossils from the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic lower Shaler Supergroup (Arctic Canada): Diversity and biostratigraphic significance". Precambrian Research. 321. Elsevier BV: 349–374. Bibcode:2019PreR..321..349L. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2018.12.024. ISSN 0301-9268.
- ^ Timmer, John (22 May 2019). "Billion-year-old fossils may be early fungus". Ars Technica. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ a b Zimmer, Carl (22 May 2019). "How Did Life Arrive on Land? A Billion-Year-Old Fungus May Hold Clues - A cache of microscopic fossils from the Arctic hints that fungi reached land long before plants". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
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