Volyn biota

The Volyn biota are very tiny, ancient plants and other small life forms found in old rocks in Ukraine. They come from a place called Volyn, which is in the Zhytomyr Oblast area. These tiny fossils are special because they are very well preserved and are about 1.5 billion years old!

Scientists found these fossils inside special holes in rocks. At first, they did not think they were from living things. But later, they learned these were fossils of very old tiny plants called cyanobacteria. The fossils show different shapes and sizes of thread-like structures.

These fossils help scientists learn about life on Earth a very long time ago, during a quiet time called the "Boring Billion." The fossils were kept safe inside special spaces filled with silicon tetrafluoride-rich fluids. Studying them tells us about how very simple life began in the Proterozoic time and even shows signs of fungi-like organisms from Precambrian times.