19. Major transitions in the early evolution of life
Keynote speaker: Andy Knoll
Organiser: Stefan Bengtson
Keynote speaker: Andy Knoll
Organiser: Stefan Bengtson
Biological inventions and environmental changes have interacted during the history of life on Earth. We intend to bring together experts from the biological/palaeontological and the geobiological/geochemical disciplines to elucidate the interplay of life and Earth during the Archean and Proterozoic, the time when the fundamental features of the biosphere were formed. An inspiration is the seminal 1995 book by Maynard Smith and Szathmary, The Major Transitions in Evolution.
- Possible topics:
- The earliest traces of life: Veracity and significance
- Origins of photosynthesis
- The major oxygenation events and their relationship to life
- Eukaryotes in the early fossil record
- Size and multicellularity
- Life through the Cryogenic
- Metazoan beginnings
- The Cambrian Explosion
- The earliest traces of life: Veracity and significance