Tiny vampires that lived 740 mn years ago

​New York: Vampires are real at least the amoebae variety and they have been around for millions of years, say researchers who found evidence of predation in ancient microbial ecosystems dating back more than 740 million years.

Using a scanning electron microscope to examine minute fossils, the researchers found perfectly circular drill holes that may have been formed by an ancient relation of Vampyrellidae amoebae. These single-celled creatures perforate the walls of their prey and reach inside to consume its cell contents.

"To my knowledge these holes are the earliest direct evidence of predation on eukaryotes," said Susannah Porter, associate professor at University of California, Santa Barbara in the US.

"We have a great record of predation on animals going back 550 million years starting with the very first mineralized shells, which show evidence of drillholes. We had nothing like that for early life -- for the time before animals appear.

These holes potentially provide a way of looking at predator-prey interactions in very deep time in ancient microbial ecosystems," she said.

Source: IANS