Abderrazak El Albani is a French-Moroccan sedimentologist,

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...

at the Hydrasa laboratory (

IC2MP The IC2MP (Institute of Chemistry of Poitiers : Materials and Natural Resources) is a multidisciplinary research institute of the University of Poitiers (France) and the CNRS. Présentation The IC2MP is a research laboratory mainly in chemistr ...

- CNRS). He is significant for having discovered the oldest known fossils of multicellular organisms in the 2.1 billion year-old black shales of the

Paleoproterozoic The Paleoproterozoic Era (;, also spelled Palaeoproterozoic), spanning the time period from (2.5–1.6 Ga), is the first of the three sub-divisions ( eras) of the Proterozoic Eon. The Paleoproterozoic is also the longest era of the Earth's ...

Francevillian Group Fossil The Francevillian biota (also known as Gabon macrofossils or Gabonionta) is a group of 2.1-billion-year-old Palaeoproterozoic, macroscopic organisms known from fossils found in Gabon in the Palaeoproterozoic Francevillian B Formation, a black shal ...

Formation in Gabon, which shed new light on the origin of multicellular organisms.

Biography

French-Moroccan

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

, born in Marrakesh, he studied in the University of Lille, from which he received a doctorate after defending a thesis on

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and sedimentary

geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the ...

. Between 1996 and 1998, he spent a postdoctoral period at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

, in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He published several scientific articles on Paleo-environments,

Geobiology Geobiology is a field of scientific research that explores the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere. It is a relatively young field, and its borders are fluid. There is considerable overlap with the fields of ecology, evolutio ...

and

Diagenesis Diagenesis () is the process that describes physical and chemical changes in sediments first caused by water-rock interactions, microbial activity, and compaction after their deposition. Increased pressure and temperature only start to play a ...

sedimentary basin Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subside ...

s. He then joined the Hydrasa laboratory (

– CNRS) in 1999. He was appointed Professor in 2010.

Major discovery

In 2008, A. El Albani was the head of an international team which discovered

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

and multicellular forms of life at the macro-scale in a fossiliferous site situated in the province of Haut Ogooué in

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

. In July 2010, this research work made the cover of the scientific magazine ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''. The study of these fossils disclosed the emergence of a multicellular, complex and organized life in Precambrian rocks as old as 2.1 billion years. The discovery of these organisms moved back the date of the emergence of multicellular life by 1.5 billion years.Up Front: Abderrazak El Albani on the Discovery of Ancient Multicellular Life
/ref> This discovery has also increased our current knowledge of the evolution of the biosphere on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

References

External links

El Albani Abderrazak
IC2MP

Books

El Albani, A., Macchiarelli, R., Meunier, A. 2016. Aux origines de la vie - une nouvelle histoire de l'évolution. Dunod Paris, 224 pp., many b/w pictures in the text, 8 tables of color photos. . Troppenz, U.-M., Schmälzle, D. 2015. Wohin die Spuren führen - das neue Bild des Präkambriums: Franceville-, Montana und Ediacarafauna. Tetrada Parchim, 192 pp., 162 photos, 2 time tables. . Troppenz, U.-M. 2017. The New Precambrian - no "boring", but bustling billions in a succession of evolutions and global catastrophes. Tetrada Parchim, 140 pp., 115 photos, 2 time tables. . Living people French geologists University of Poitiers faculty Geobiologists Lille University of Science and Technology alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{France-scientist-stub