Shelled amoebae
Single cells start building protective housings — the first skeletons of any kind.
- When
- Known to
- ± 30 million years
- Era
- Neoproterozoic, Proterozoic
Vase-shaped microfossils around 780 to 730 million years old are the tests of amoebae closely comparable to living groups. They are the earliest clear evidence of eukaryotes constructing hard protective structures, and some bear holes interpreted as predatory borings. Predation and armour appear together, roughly 200 million years before animals do the same thing at larger scale.