Volyn biota

The Volyn biota are fossilized microorganisms found in rock samples from miarolitic cavities of igneous rocks collected in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine.

Exceptionally well-preserved, they were dated to 1.5 Ga, within the "Boring Billion" period of the Proterozoic geological eon.

[1][2] The samples of Volyn biota were found in samples from miarolitic pegmatites ("chamber pegmatites") collected from the Korosten Pluton [uk] of the Ukrainian Shield.

[3] Until very recently the origin of the Korosten pegmatites was not fully understood, but they were dated to 1.8-1.7 Ga.[4] Franz et al. (2022, 2023), investigating newly recovered samples they date to 1.5 Ga, described the morphology and the internal structure of Volyn biota and reported the presence of different types of filaments, of varying diameters, shapes and branching in the studied organisms, and provided evidence of the presence of fungi-like organisms and Precambrian continental deep biosphere.

[2] Volyn biota is an additional support[2] of the claim that filamentous fossils dated to 2.4 Ga from the Ongeluk Formation (Griqualand West, South Africa) were also fungi-like organisms.