1.6 Billion Old Plant Fossil Found In India

William Robinson writes: Scientists at the Swedish Museum of Natural History have found fossils of 1.6 billion year old probable red algae. The scientists found two kinds of fossils resembling red algae in uniquely well-preserved sedimentary rocks at Chitrakoot in central India. One type is thread-like, the other one consists of fleshy colonies. The scientists were able to see distinct inner cell structures and so-called cell fountains, the bundles of packed and splaying filaments that form the body of the fleshy forms and are characteristic of red algae. The Indian fossils, 400 million years older and by far the oldest plant-like fossils ever found, suggest that the early branches of the tree of life need to be recalibrated. The finding could push the beginning of complex life 400 million earlier than thought, scientists believe.