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The "First Predators" Ruled a World Full of Bacteria

The earliest complex life forms remain shrouded in mystery, but scientists have found some illuminating new evidence.

By Matt Hrodey
Jun 8, 2023 5:00 PMJun 8, 2023 5:01 PM
Protosterol Biota
A rendering of two Protosterol Biota on the ocean floor. (Credit: MidJourney by TA 2023)

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A new paper claims to have discovered a “lost world” of microscopic organisms that lived at least 1.6 billion years ago at a time when the planet’s waterways were full of bacteria.

What these organisms looked like, scientists can only speculate, but they have proposed that the lost creatures were tiny predators that hunted said bacteria. The discovery fills in a large gap in the history of complex, eukaryotic life on Earth.

Finding Protosteroids

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