Mesoproterozoic

The Mesoproterozoic is a geologic era which lasted from 1,600 million years ago (mya) to 1,000 mya.

The major events of this era are:

• the breakup of the Columbia supercontinent ~1,500 mya;
• the assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent ~1,100 mya;
• the evolution of sexual reproduction.

Evidence of a eukaryotic red algae, Bangiomorpha pubescens, has been identified from ~1200 mya old rocks in the Hunting Formation (Somerset Island, Canada). This is the oldest known sexually reproducing organism and therefore the earliest known complex multicellular organism.^[1]

1. ↑ Butterfield N.J. 2000. Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.: implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes. Paleobiology 26, 386–404. [1]