The Nonesuch Formation Lagerstätte: a rare window into freshwater life one billion years ago

The Nonesuch Formation in the clastic sedimentary Oronto Group on the Keweenaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA most likely represents an ancient lake that formed between 1083 and 1070 Ma. Exceptional preservation, seen in palynological preparations, provides a snapshot of cell morphology, biological complexity and ecology at an early stage in the evolution of the eukaryotes. A wide range of unicellular organization is documented in both vegetative and encysted cell morphologies, but the extent to which multicellularity is developed seems very limited at this time. Overall, the Nonesuch microbiota, when viewed as a Lagerstätte, opens up a window onto the early evolution of unicellular eukaryotes, presenting an essential baseline of both eukaryotic diversity and cell structure well in advance of eukaryotic diversification documented in marine deposits from the later Neoproterozoic.