Chemosymbiosis between Animals and Microbes May Predate the Cambrian: Study
Researchers have discovered evidence that the ancient marine creature Conotubus hemiannulatus may have engaged in chemosymbiosis with bacteria over 540 million years ago. By analyzing molybdenum isotopes in fossils from China, scientists suggest these organisms survived in toxic, sulfur-rich environments.
Why it matters
This finding pushes back the timeline for the evolution of symbiotic relationships between animals and microbes, offering new insights into early life on Earth.
A tubular marine creature that lived on the seafloor more than 540 million years ago may have survived in toxic, sulfur-rich waters by teaming up with bacteria.
Reconstruction of Conotubus hemiannulatus and its symbiotic relationship with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Image credit: David Fike.
The ancient animal, known as Conotubus hemiannulatus , lived in the final stretch of the Ediacaran period, shortly before the Cambrian explosion of animal life.
“The phylogenetic affinity of Conotubus hemiannulatus remains uncertain,” said Nanjing University’s Dr. Yongbo Peng, Virginia Tech’s Dr. Shuhai Xiao, and their colleagues.
“It has been assigned to the family Cloudinidae or to the informal group of cloudinomorphs, based on its funnel-in-funnel tubular morphology, which is reminiscent of Cloudina , a contemporaneous tubular fossil with a global distribution.”
The creature’s fossils were found in the Dengying Formation in Shaanxi province, southern China.
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