Maximal atmospheric oxygen fraction during vertebrate evolution, 300 Myr ago

Value 31 %
Organism Biosphere
Reference Castellano S et al Low exchangeability of selenocysteine, the 21st amino acid, in vertebrate proteins.Mol Biol Evol. 2009 Jun 1.PubMed ID19487332
Comments Vertebrates have evolved for half a billion years with a maximum O2 concentration around 300 Myr ago (~31% O2), a minimum about 200 Myr ago (~13% O2), followed by a steady rise to present times (21% O2) (Berner 2006 Berner, VandenBrooks and Ward 2007).
Entered by Uri M
ID 104532