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Barbara Cavalazzi

Professoressa ordinaria

Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali

Settore scientifico disciplinare: GEOS-02/A Paleontologia e paleoecologia

Coordinatrice del Corso di Dottorato in Scienze della terra, della vita e dell'ambiente

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3.42-Billion-Year-Old Filamentous Microfossils Found in South Africa

Paleontologists have discovered the exceptionally well-preserved, 3.42-billion-year-old filamentous microfossils in a paleo-subseafloor hydrothermal vein system in what is now South Africa; the filaments colonized the walls of conduits created by low-temperature hydrothermal fluid; combined with their morphological and chemical characteristics, they can be considered the oldest methane-cycling microorganisms, most likely methanogens.