The humble stromatolite fossils may not look as cool as dinosaurs, but they were the rulers of ancient Earth — and none of us would be here without them.
Back then, Earth was nothing like it is now. Were you to visit it during Archean times, you wouldn’t last long: The atmosphere of the planet then was a mix of gasses like carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia, among others, that would have been toxic to Earth’s current inhabitants. But that wasn’t the case for stromatolites, of course. They thrived in this environment, even as they were slowly changing it.Living stromatolites, as seen from the overlook at Hamelin Pool Nature Reserve, Australia.
In fact, most of life as we know it would never have developed on earth without those tireless little cyanobacteria colonies. Thanks to the wonders of photosynthesis, stromatolites in their billions were busily absorbing sunlight, water and carbon dioxide while pumping out tiny bubbles ofThat doesn’t sound like much of a task, but the stromatolites of early Earth kept at it long enough that, over the eons, the oceans became saturated with oxygen.
But long before that happened, roughly one billion years ago, stromatolites began to disappear from the fossil record. Multiple abound, but researchers believe that changes in the chemical composition of the world’s oceans, or perhaps the rise of more complex life that consumed cyanobacteria, were probably responsible for wiping out most stromatolites.If someone told you that you could hop on a plane and visit a herd of living dinosaurs, you’d go, right? Well, if you’re so inclined, you can actually see colonies of living stromatolites for yourself.
To date, scientists know of a few locations around the world where stromatolites can still live — generally, they require very salty and sheltered water environments. One of the most famous destinations — famous among stromatolite fans, anyway — is Western Australia’s
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