Proterozoic life

enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessile organisms that lived during the Ediacaran Period (ca. 635–542 Mya)

multi-layered sheet of microorganisms

possibly earliest multicellular lifeforms

Grypania is an early, tube-shaped fossil from the Proterozoic eon. The organism, with a size over one centimeter and consistent form, could have been a giant bacterium, a bacterial colony, or a eukaryotic alga. The oldest probable Grypania fossils date to about 1870 million years ago (redated from the previous 2100 million) and the youngest extended into the Ediacaran period. This implies that the time range of this taxon extended for 1200 million years.

Bangiomorpha pubescens is a species of red algae in the order Bangiales. It is the first known sexually reproducing organism. A multicellular fossil of Bangiomorpha pubescens was recovered from the Hunting Formation in Somerset Island, Canada that strongly resembles the modern red alga Bangia despite occurring in rocks dating to , during the Stenian period. This species is the oldest example of an organism belonging to an extant phylum. The fossil includes differentiated reproductive cells that are the oldest evidence of sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction increased genetic variation, whi

Collenia is genus of fossil cyanobacteria that form a particular type of stromatolites.