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Fossil viruses
Author(s) -
Tucker Maurice
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geology today
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.188
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1365-2451
pISSN - 0266-6979
DOI - 10.1111/gto.12321
Subject(s) - fossil record , environmental ethics , geology , paleontology , virology , biology , philosophy
Viruses are very much in the news these days, unfortunately, but what about their geological history? Are viruses preserved in the fossil record? If so, how does that happen, and how far back do they go? And what about the roles of viruses in the environment? Are they significant or were they just the nasty invisible parasites we regard them to be today, disrupting life as we know it and leading to the very sad and untimely death of 1000s of people? Or were they both—good and bad? This article explores some of these issues.