These Bizarre Underground Microbes Haven t Evolved For 175 Million Years ScienceAlert 2 hrs ago © Chivian et al., Science, 2008 Rod-shaped CDA.
A bacterium that dwells deep underground, living off chemical reactions triggered by radioactive decay, has been doing so unchanged for millions of years, new research has found.
A genetic analysis of microbes of the species
Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator (CDA) collected from three different continents has revealed that the bacterium has barely evolved since they were last together on the same land mass, Pangaea.
That means they have been in what scientists call evolutionary stasis for at least 175 million years, making CDA the only known subterranean living microbial fossil. This could have important implications for our understanding of microbial evolution.
Fossil Friday: microbes discovered deep underground remain virtually unchanged since 175 million years ago
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Living fossils: Microbe discovered in evolutionary stasis for millions of years
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