Geological alteration of Precambrian steroids mimics early animal signatures

Lennart M. van Maldegem*, Benjamin J. Nettersheim*, Arne Leider, Jochen J. Brocks, Pierre Adam, Philippe Schaeffer, Christian Hallmann*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The absence of unambiguous animal body fossils in rocks older than the late Ediacaran has rendered fossil lipids the most promising tracers of early organismic complexity. Yet much debate surrounds the various potential biological sources of putative metazoan steroids found in Precambrian rocks. Here we show that 26-methylated steranes—hydrocarbon structures currently attributed to the earliest animals—can form via geological alteration of common algal sterols, which carries important implications for palaeo-ecological interpretations and inhibits the use of such unconventional ‘sponge’ steranes for reconstructing early animal evolution.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)169-173
Number of pages5
JournalNature Ecology and Evolution
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021

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