Protocyanobacteria: Oxygenic and Anoxygenic photosynthesis in mat-forming bacteria

The oldest record of life is preserved in prePhanerozoic stromatolites dated 3500 million years old and is most likely of filamentous mat-forming cyanobacteria. The sedimentary records of cyanobacterial mats in stromatolites are the most abundant record of life throughout the prePhanerozoic. Stromatolites persisted into the Phanerozoic Eon, yet they become much less pronounced relative to earlier ones. The abundance and persistence of cyanobacterial mats throughout most of geological time point to the evolutionary success of these kinds of microbial communities and their possible role in the evolution of the earth and atmosphere.