The Neoproterozoic Era (1,000 to 542 million years ago) is the third era that makes up the Proterozoic Eon and this era is made up of three periods - the Tonian, Cryogenian (I bet this one is a bit cold) and the Ediacaran. It should be said that little is known about this era, although scientists are starting to find more about it, especially the third period of it (the Ediacaran).
For this posting, I shall focus on the Tonian period (the period of 1,000 to 850 million years ago). Despite his presence in the early 21st Century politics, this period was not named after Tony Blair; the word derives from the Greek word "tonas" meaning "stretch".
During this period, it is thought that the supercontinent, Rodinia, started to break up
I haven't mentioned this before, and it should be a good idea to mention them despite the fact they have been around since 3,200 million years ago. The acritarchs are small organic fossils (normally if the fossil is not formed from a form of an acid soluble compound or a carbonate or siliceous compound but is still organic, it is classed as an acritarch) and the diversity or the paucity of these species recorded in sedimentary rocks reflects the state of the planet with reference to the past ecological events (palaeoenvironment). The acritarch, as you may find out, can represent the remains of the three aforementioned life domains (remember LUCA) of archaea, bacteria and the eukaryote. The presence of the acritarchs found within the Tonian period tend to be chlorophyta (green algae) and fungi ( a form of eukaryotic life that forms a large group of great importance still to life today). Where would Whatlington and Vinehall Street be without beer and bread (both need yeast)?
Next time - the Cryogenian Period
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