Ourasphaira giraldae

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] The fungus may have existed on land well before plants.[4]

Ourasphaira giraldae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Genus:	Ourasphaira
Binomial name
Ourasphaira giraldae Loron et al., 2019[1]

See also

• 2019 in paleontology
• Life timeline

References

1. 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. Science and Business Media LLC. 570: 232–235. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1217-0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 31118507.
2. 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. Elsevier BV. 321: 349–374. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2018.12.024. ISSN 0301-9268.
3. Timmer, John (22 May 2019). "Billion-year-old fossils may be early fungus". Ars Technica. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
4. 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.