[B-CG06] Frontier in Biology and Paleobiology of Fossilized Micro-organisms

Wed. May 27, 2026 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM Exhibition Hall Special Setting (5) (Exhibition Hall 7&8, Makuhari Messe)

Chairperson:Hori, S. Rie(Department of Earth Science, Faculty of Science, Ehime University), Ando Takuto(Akita University)

Our session aims to open a new window into interdisciplinary research bridging Earth Sciences and Biology, with a focus on microfossils and fossilized microorganisms.
Microfossils provide well-preserved and the most continuous fossil records throughout the Phanerozoic eon. Due to their high abundance, global distribution, and rapid evolutionary rates, they have long served as essential tools in geological studies: especially in biostratigraphy, chronology, paleoceanography, and paleontology. The biominerals of microfossils preserve signals of past ocean chemistry and climate changes, and even pollution events. As highly sensitive indicators of environmental change, they are invaluable not only for understanding deep-time Earth history but also for monitoring environmental shifts in the Anthropocene. Fossilized microorganisms diverse in nearly all major eukaryotic supergroups, offering a unique biological archive. In recent decades, rapid advancements in molecular biology have brought new dimensions to their study. Techniques such as molecular phylogenetics, metabarcoding, transcriptomics, and genomic analyses now provide new insights into the evolution, metabolisms, and diversification of microfossil organisms. These approaches also shed light on the intricate relationship between environmental change and biological evolution. As we broaden our scientific approaches to incorporate insights from ecology, cell biology, and environmental sciences, the study of fossilized microorganisms is becoming a hub for truly integrative science. We welcome contributions that explore evolutionary biology and the Earth history, ecology, biochemistry, biomonitoring applications, and other general aspects of microfossils and microorganisms. Join us in bridging the past and present to better understand the history and future of life on Earth.

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1:45 PM - 2:00 PM

[BCG06-07] Morphology and C-isotopic composition affirm biogenicity of Mesoarchean sphaeromorph organic-walled microfossils from the ~3.0 Ga Farrel Quartzite, Western Australia

★Invited Papers

*Kenichiro Sugitani¹, Kohei Sasaki², Akizumi Ishida³, Motoko Igisu⁴, Kaho Ishibashi¹, Mariko Yamamoto¹, Minako Hashiguchi¹, Heda Agic⁵, Stanley M. Awramik⁶ (1. Nagoya University, 2. The University of Tokyo, 3. Tohoku University, 4. JAMSTEC, 5. University College Cork, 6. University of California, Santa Barbara)

2:00 PM - 2:15 PM

[BCG06-08] Investigating conodont biofacies in the Cisuralian to Guadalupian (lower to middle Permian) deposited in pelagic Panthalassa

*Shun Muto¹, Satoshi Takahashi², Masafumi MURAYAMA^3,4 (1. Geological Survey of Japan, AIST, 2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Graduate school of environmental studies, Nagoya University, 3. Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University, 4. Marine Core Research Institute, Kochi University)

2:15 PM - 2:30 PM

[BCG06-09] Integrated conodont and radiolarian biostratigraphy across the Norian/Rhaetian boundary (Late Triassic) in central Japan

*Moriyoshi Takemura¹, Atsushi Oshima¹, Tetsuji Onoue², Manuel Rigo^3,4 (1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University, 2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, 3. Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, 4. Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resource (IGG–CNR))

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM

[BCG06-10] Phycoma-like organic microfossils in the Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks from northwestern Greenland

*Risa Shigi¹, Masashi A. Ikeda², Takuto Ando³, Ken Sawada² (1. Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, 2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, 3. Department of Earth Resource Science, Faculty of International Resource Sciences, Akita University)

2:45 PM - 3:00 PM

[BCG06-11] Utilizing Lipid Biomarker Profiling to Understand Mineral Encapsulation as a Preservation Mechanism in Iron-Carbonate Rich Hot Springs

*Ellen Cook^1,2,3, Cagn Walker², Fatima Li Hau^5,1, Takeshi Kakegawa⁴, Mary Beth Wilhelm², Shawn Erin McGlynn^1,3 (1. ELSI, 2. NASA, 3. Inst. of Science Tokyo, 4. Tohoku Univ., 5. OIST)

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM

[BCG06-12] Importance of prasinophycean phycoma to reconstruct paleo-ecosystem and their problems

*Takuto Ando¹, Nanato Wada¹, Kazumasa Yamada² (1. Akita University, 2. Fukui Prefectural University)

Session information