TY - JOUR
T1 - Geological alteration of Precambrian steroids mimics early animal signatures
AU - van Maldegem, Lennart M.
AU - Nettersheim, Benjamin J.
AU - Leider, Arne
AU - Brocks, Jochen J.
AU - Adam, Pierre
AU - Schaeffer, Philippe
AU - Hallmann, Christian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096437377&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41559-020-01336-5
DO - 10.1038/s41559-020-01336-5
M3 - Article
SN - 2397-334X
VL - 5
SP - 169
EP - 173
JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution
JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution
IS - 2
ER -