Three-dimensional preservation of cellular and subcellular structures suggests 1.6 billion-year-old crown-group red algae.

Abstract in brief

• The text describes 1.6-billion-year-old well-preserved fossils from India, which are thought to be early red algae (rhodophytes), showing complex cellular structures and growth patterns.
• The fossils include different forms such as Rafatazmia, with large cells and potential features like pyrenoids, and Denaricion, resembling bacteria or cyanobacteria, although their exact relationships are uncertain.
• These findings suggest that complex multicellular red algae existed around 1.6 billion years ago, significantly earlier than previously known, pushing back the origin date of crowngroup red algae by about 400 million years.]