View source for Eozoon canadense

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[[Image:Eozoon01.jpg|thumb|''Eozoön canadense'' from the [[Precambrian]] of Canada, a metamorphic rock made of interlayered [[calcite]] and [[serpentine group|serpentine]]. Scale in mm.]]
'''''Eozoön canadense''''' (literally, "dawn animal of Canada") is a [[pseudofossil]].

[[John William Dawson]] described the banded structures of coarsely crystalline [[calcite]] and [[serpentine group|serpentine]] as a gigantic [[Foraminifera]], which was thought to be the oldest known fossil {{harv|Dawson|1865}}. It was found in [[Precambrian]] metamorphosed [[limestone]] of [[Canada]], at Côte St. Pierre near [[Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec|Grenville]] ([[Quebec]]) in 1863. It was later found in several other localities. Dawson called it "one of the brightest gems in the scientific crown of the [[Geological Survey of Canada]]". In 1894, it was shown that the place where it was found was associated with metamorphism ({{harvnb|O'Brien|1970}}; {{harvnb|Adelman|2007}}).

Similar Eozoön structures were subsequently found in metamorphosed limestone blocks erupted from [[Mount Vesuvius]], where high-temperature physical and chemical processes were responsible for their formation {{harv|O'Brien|1970}}.

==References==
* {{cite journal|last=Adelman|first=J.|year=2007|title=''Eozoön'': debunking the dawn animal|journal=Endeavor|volume=31|issue=3|pages=94–98|doi=10.1016/j.endeavour.2007.07.002|pmid=17765972}}
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1865.021.01-02.12|last=Dawson|first=J. W.|year=1865|title=On the structure of certain organic remains in the Laurentian limestones of Canada|journal=Quart. J. Geol. Soc.|volume=21|issue=1–2|pages=51–59}}
* {{cite journal|last=Dolan|first=J. R.|year=2023|title=The saga of the false fossil foram Eozoon|journal=European Journal of Protistology|volume=87|issue=2|pages=125955|doi=10.1016/j.ejop.2022.125955}}
* {{cite journal|last=O'Brien|first=C. F.|year=1970|title=''Eozoön canadense'': 'The dawn animal of Canada'|journal=Isis|volume=61|issue=2|pages=206–223|doi=10.1086/350620}}

[[Category:Pseudofossils]]
[[Category:Precambrian fossils]]
[[Category:Fossils of Canada]]
[[Category:Fossils of Italy]]
[[Category:Precambrian Canada]]
[[Category:Precambrian Europe]]
[[Category:Paleontology in Quebec]]
[[Category:Metamorphic rocks]]


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