Research Multicellular life arose earlier + Virus that infected animals vital for embryo devel

[C C]

A virus that infected the first animals hundreds of millions of years ago has become essential for the development of the embryo
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1031860

KEY POINTS: At least 8% of the human genome is genetic material from viruses. It was considered ‘junk DNA’ until recently, but its role in human development is now known to be essential, Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) describe for the first time the role of these viruses in a key process in development, when cells become pluripotent few hours after fertilization, The finding, published in Science Advances, is relevant for regenerative medicine and for the creation of artificial embryos. (MORE - no ads)

---

North China fossils show eukaryotes first acquired multicellularity 1.63 billion years ago
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1032239

INTRO: In a study published in Science Advances on Jan. 24, researchers led by Prof. ZHU Maoyan from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported their recent discovery of 1.63-billion-year-old multicellular fossils from North China.

These exquisitely preserved microfossils are currently considered the oldest record of multicellular eukaryotes. This study is another breakthrough after the researchers’ earlier discovery of decimeter-sized eukaryotic fossils in the Yanshan area of North China, and pushes back the emergence of multicellularity in eukaryotes by about 70 million years.

All complex life on Earth, including diverse animals, land plants, macroscopic fungi, and seaweeds, are multicellular eukaryotes. Multicellularity is key to eukaryotes acquiring organismal complexity and large size, and is often regarded as a major transition in the history of life on Earth. However, scientists have been unsure when eukaryotes evolved this innovation.

Fossil records offering convincing evidence show that eukaryotes with simple multicellularity, such as red and green algae, and putative fungi, appeared as early as 1.05 billion years ago. Older records have claimed to be multicellular eukaryotes, but most of them are controversial because of their simple morphology and lack of cellular structure... (MORE - no ads)

[Kornee]

---

North China fossils show eukaryotes first acquired multicellularity 1.63 billion years ago
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1032239

INTRO: In a study published in Science Advances on Jan. 24, researchers led by Prof. ZHU Maoyan from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported their recent discovery of 1.63-billion-year-old multicellular fossils from North China.

These exquisitely preserved microfossils are currently considered the oldest record of multicellular eukaryotes. This study is another breakthrough after the researchers’ earlier discovery of decimeter-sized eukaryotic fossils in the Yanshan area of North China, and pushes back the emergence of multicellularity in eukaryotes by about 70 million years.

All complex life on Earth, including diverse animals, land plants, macroscopic fungi, and seaweeds, are multicellular eukaryotes. Multicellularity is key to eukaryotes acquiring organismal complexity and large size, and is often regarded as a major transition in the history of life on Earth. However, scientists have been unsure when eukaryotes evolved this innovation.

Fossil records offering convincing evidence show that eukaryotes with simple multicellularity, such as red and green algae, and putative fungi, appeared as early as 1.05 billion years ago. Older records have claimed to be multicellular eukaryotes, but most of them are controversial because of their simple morphology and lack of cellular structure... (MORE - no ads)

EurekaAlert article 4th para:
"Fossil records offering convincing evidence show that eukaryotes with simple multicellularity, such as red and green algae, and putative fungi, appeared as early as 1.05 billion years ago. Older records have claimed to be multicellular eukaryotes, but most of them are controversial because of their simple morphology and lack of cellular structure."

OK simple arithmetic gives the push-back gap as 1.63by - 1.05by = 580 million years.

Compare to 2nd para which contains:
"and pushes back the emergence of multicellularity in eukaryotes by about 70 million years"

Careless omission of a zero character doesn't explain that discrepancy. The Science Advances article itself hopefully makes no such gaffe.

[C C]

Here's one different from the poorly(?) translated Chinese Academy of Sciences release that was dispensed just about everywhere.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Microbes that gave rise to all plants and animals became multicellular 1.6 billion years ago, tiny fossils reveal
https://www.science.org/content/article/...-years-ago

EXCERPTS: A new study describing a microscopic, algalike fossil dating back more than 1.6 billion years supports the idea that one of the hallmarks of the complex life we see around us—multicellularity— is much older than previously thought. Together with other recent research, the fossil, reported today in Science Advances, suggests the lineage known as eukaryotes— which features compartmentalized cells and includes everything from redwoods to jellies to people—became multicellular some 600 million years earlier than scientists once generally thought.

[...] Typically, biologists subdivide that grand vision into two categories: eukaryotes, with their DNA packaged into nuclei, and prokaryotes such as bacteria, which have free-floating DNA. Prokaryotes evolved first, up to 3.9 billion years ago; within a few hundred million years, some of them, the cyanobacteria, began to form chains of cells, considered an advance in life’s complexity. About 2 billion years ago, much larger, single-cell eukaryotes bearing nuclei showed up. For decades, researchers thought eukaryotes didn’t form simple multicellular structures until 1 billion years after they arose, and that once chain structures evolved, more elaborate body plans—animals with organs—appeared soon after. “There was this perception that multicellularity was hard [to evolve],” Travisano says... (MORE - details)

[Kornee]

Yeah I was tempted to do a search in the actual article linked to in #1
Maybe because the gaffe wasn't such a big deal, and that I was expressing annoyance that the Eureka Alert article didn't provide any such link itself. Poor form imo.