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Cyanobacteria are globally widespread photosynthetic prokaryotes and are major contributors to global biogeochemical cycles. [28] They are the only oxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes, and prosper in diverse and extreme habitats. [29] They are among the oldest organisms on Earth with fossil records dating back at least 2.1 billion years. [30]
The Warrawoona Group is a geological unit in Western Australia containing putative fossils of cyanobacteria cells. Dated 3.465 Ga, these microstructures, found in Archean chert, are considered to be the oldest known geological record of life on Earth. [1] [2] [3]
Girvanella is a fossil thought to represent the calcified sheath of a filamentous cyanobacterium known from the Burgess Shale [1] and other Cambrian fossil deposits. [2] Specimens are also known from the Early Ordovician San Juan Formation, Argentina. [3] Girvanella was originally described as a foraminifera. [4]
Layered spherical growth structures termed oncolites are similar to stromatolites and are also known from the fossil record. Thrombolites are poorly laminated or non-laminated clotted structures formed by cyanobacteria, common in the fossil record and in modern sediments. [18]
Fossil Thrombolites at Lake Walyungup. Thrombolites (from Ancient Greek θρόμβος thrómbos meaning "clot" and λῐ́θος líthos meaning "stone") are clotted accretionary structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding, and cementation of sedimentary grains by biofilms of microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria. [1]
Kulparia is a genus of fossil stromatolite-forming cyanobacteria from the late Neoproterozoic era. It is named after the town of Kulpara in South Australia, where the type specimen was found nearby. [3] [4]
Pilbaria is a genus of fossil stromatolite-forming cyanobacteria from the Paleoproterozoic era 2.3 to 1.7 billion years ago. [1] It is named after the Pilbara region of Western Australia where the type specimen was found. [3] [2]
Fossils include exceptionally well-preserved cyanobacteria microfossils, as well as multiple stromatolite species, including Linella avis and Inzeria intia. [5] [6] This locality also has been claimed to contain eukaryotic green algae preservation, though this interpretation is debated. [7]