Horodyskia moniliformis

Horodyskia moniliformis is a fossil colonial organism dating from Precambrium strata around 1 and a half billion years ago, from throughout the world. It is one of the oldest examples of macroscopic life, and is, perhaps, the oldest example of gene regulation known.

Each colony took the form of several spherical individuals in a line, connected by a buried stolon, like a string of beads. As the colony grew older, each individual would grow larger, but, all individuals would maintain an equal distance from its neighbors, and would continue growing until they more resembled berries, rather than spheres, or until the colony was covered up by sediment, which killed them.