Centimetre-scale structures reported from 2.1 Ga Gabonese shales
El Albani and colleagues described pyritised, centimetre-scale structures with lobed margins and radial internal fabric from 2.1 billion-year-old black shales of the Francevillian Basin in Gabon, and interpreted them as colonial organisms showing coordinated growth. If accepted, the claim moves macroscopic organisation back by more than a billion years and places it immediately after the oxygenation of the atmosphere. The interpretation remains disputed on two grounds: that the structures could be abiotic pyrite growths or sedimentary features, and that nothing comparable is known for roughly the next billion years, which is difficult to reconcile with a continuous lineage.
Uncertain — sources disagree, or the dating is contested. Stated here, not resolved.
Subjects
- Francevillian Basin, Gabon · site · Gabon
- The evolution of multicellularity · phenomenon · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Large colonial organisms with coordinated growth in oxygenated environments 2.1 Gyr ago
Supports the description of the Francevillian structures and their interpretation as colonial organisms. The interpretation is disputed; no rebuttal is cited here. V55 verification basis: this session had no network access to any source — WebFetch was egress-blocked and the WebSearch budget was exhausted — so the cited work was not retrieved and its pagination was not re-checked. Volume and page range are quoted from standing knowledge and were not re-checked.
Nature · 2010 · Partly verified
El Albani, A. et al., Nature, vol. 466 (2010), pp. 100–104