Sign in

Max Lechte

@maxlechte.bsky.social
195 followers 297 following 18 posts

Using geology to better understand the ancient world and the origins of complex life. Research Fellow at the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Max Lechte
Phoebe Cohen @phoebefossil.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Super excited that our paper led by @sandinmm.eurosky.social in PNAS is out! We show that crown-group eukaryotes were already taxonomically and ecologically diverse throughout the Mesoproterozoic, revealing complex communities well before the Neoproterozoic radiation. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Environmental phylogenetics supports a steady diversification of crown eukaryotes starting from the mid-Proterozoic | PNAS
Molecular clock and preservation of early microfossil assemblages suggest that eukaryotes were present and already diverse more than ~1600 million ...
29034
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
This foundational creation story highlights how for thousands of years people have been wondering about how the world might have changed through time, and our place within it 🌏
010
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Very cool study!
010
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Despite several anachronisms (trees before animals, birds before mammals, all before the sun!), key aspects are broadly in order. The creation of Earth, establishment of the oceans and (violent) early atmosphere, landmass, photosynthetic growth, marine life before land animals, and finally humans.
110
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The late 18th C was a turning point in our understanding of the origins and antiquity of the Earth. Hutton used unconformities to argue the Earth was inconceivably old, and Cuvier demonstrated extinction. However, in 1798 Haydn's audiences would have largely believed the 6-day Creation narrative.
110
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
A very cool experience recently at the Sydney Opera House where I was asked to speak before the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs performance of Haydn's 1798 oratorio 'The Creation'. I discussed our modern, geological understanding of the evolution of our planet and biosphere 🧵
120
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Sad to miss it this year! It was a great time last year.
120
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thanks for your interest Roland! I did reach out to BBC in advance but I wasn't sure exactly who to contact.
030
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Thanks Brooke!
120
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This helps us to speculate about the habitats, life modes, & metabolism of some of the earliest eukaryotes known, and hopefully better understand the emergence of complex life on Earth. To read more, check out our article in @aunz.theconversation.com! ⚒️
theconversation.com
Tiny fossils found in 1.7 billion-year-old mud yield clues to the evolution of complex life
The companies that drilled these cores decades ago couldn’t have known the scientific treasures inside.
0185
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
@fossils.bsky.social identified over 12k fossils from a wide range of environments, & we found that eukaryotes were restricted to samples from oxygenated settings. Those with evidence for anoxic bottom waters had only prokaryotes, suggesting that the earliest fossil eukaryotes were benthic & aerobic
1144
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
We used the geological record to address this gap in our understanding, by studying the oldest-known #eukaryote #fossils and their host rocks: single-celled microfossils with complex appendages from the 1.75-1.4 billion-year-old sedimentary successions of the Northern Territory, Australia
nature.com
Early fossil eukaryotes were benthic aerobes - Nature
Integrated palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of ancient rocks from Australia show that early eukaryotes were largely restricted to oxygenated benthic habitats, probably posse...
1157
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The innovation of the eukaryotic cell revolutionised the biosphere & transformed the planet, but the drivers behind this process remain debated. New paper out @natureportfolio.nature.com co-led by @fossils.bsky.social w/ Susannah Porter, Galen Halverson & Maggie Whelan @mcgillscience.bsky.social 🌎
Eukaryote microfossils from the Palaeoproterozoic. Credit: Leigh Anne RiedmanRock cores of a Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary succession at the Northern Territory Geological Survey. Credit: M Lechte
1258
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This helps us to speculate about the life modes and metabolism of some of the earliest eukaryotes, and hopefully better understand the emergence of complex life on Earth. To read more, check out our article in @aunz.theconversation.com! ⚒️
theconversation.com
Tiny fossils found in 1.7 billion-year-old mud yield clues to the evolution of complex life
The companies that drilled these cores decades ago couldn’t have known the scientific treasures inside.
010
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Leigh Anne identified over 12k fossils from a wide range of environments, and we show that eukaryotes were restricted to samples from oxygenated settings. Those with evidence for anoxic bottom waters had only prokaryotes, suggesting that the earliest fossil eukaryotes were aerobic and benthic
100
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
We used the geological record to address this gap in our understanding, by studying the oldest-known #eukaryote #fossils and their host rocks: single-celled microfossils from the 1.75–1.4 billion-year-old sedimentary successions of the Greater McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory, Australia
nature.com
Early fossil eukaryotes were benthic aerobes - Nature
Integrated palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of ancient rocks from Australia show that early eukaryotes were largely restricted to oxygenated benthic habitats, probably posse...
100
Reposted by Max Lechte
Leigh Anne Riedman @fossils.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Excited to say that my new paper with @maxlechte.bsky.social (and others not on bluesky) has come out in @nature.com! Study of sediments, geochemistry and fossils from rocks 1.75 to 1.4 billion years old indicate that the oldest known #eukaryotes were aerobic and benthic! #protists rdcu.be/fjNgL
rdcu.be
Early fossil eukaryotes were benthic aerobes
Nature - Integrated palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of ancient rocks from Australia show that early eukaryotes were largely restricted to oxygenated benthic habitats,...
410243
Reposted by Max Lechte
PWHL @thepwhl.com · 21/05/2026
POUR LA VICTOIRE ‼️ THE MONTRÉAL VICTOIRE ARE THE 2026 PWHL WALTER CUP CHAMPIONS! LA VICTOIRE DE MONTRÉAL SONT LES CHAMPIONNES DE LA COUPE WALTER 2026 DE LA LPHF!
122167353
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Was great to chat to @evolutionsoup.bsky.social about the climate change in the Neoproterozoic and how it might have affected the biosphere. Thanks for having me! ⚒️
131
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Good to know, thanks Brooke! ⚒️
010
Max Lechte @maxlechte.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Newly landed in Bluesky! I'm Max, a postdoc in geobiology at @sydney.edu.au (previously Melbourne, McGill). I use the sedimentary record to better understand ancient environmental change, the evolution of early eukaryotes, and the strange world they emerged in. Here's me with some 2.3 Ga glacials
56112