Statherian Period

Rise of complex, single-celled life

The Statherian is the fourth and final period of the Paleoproterozoic Era, occurring after the Orosirian, and before Calymmian (Mesoproterozoic)

Geological Age

  • 1,800–1,600 Ma

  • The name is derived from the Greek word meaning "stable" or "firm"; previous eras characterized by violent events.

Eon

Era

What happened during this time?

Geological

  • The super-continent Columbia formed during this period.

    • Continents of Ur, Nena, and Atlantica drifted together, they expanded through accretion and formed a huge super continent

Biological

  • Diversification of unicellular organisms

  • Appearance of possible early eukaryote (Grypania spiralis) around 2.1 Ga (Grey and Williams 1990; Han and Runnegar 1992; Kumar 1995)

    • The youngest occurrence of Grypania is in the Ediacaran Period (900 Ma)

    • The organisms has a coiled, filamentous appearance; possible green, Chlorophyceae algae

    • Grypania could also be giant bacterium or bacterial super colony, similar to Thiomargarita magnifica, a megabacterium found in the Caribbean mangroves that can reach up to 2 cm (Volland et al. 2022)

Above: An early eukaryotic algae, Grypania

Additional Resources