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Pigments were extracted from black shales.
Scientists from the Australian National University have discovered the oldest samples of known biological pigments, whose age is 1.1 billion years old. The bright pink fossil bichromes are the remains of chlorophyll belonging to the ancient photosynthetic organisms.
The pigments were extracted from black shales – sedimentary carbon rocks that formed on the seabed. The depots, where the excavations were made, are located in the Taudeni Synagogue in Mauritania (West Africa). To obtain biological molecules, scientists crushed the race and then analyzed the isolated compounds. According to the researchers, these pigments are more than half a billion years old than previous similar results
The results of the analysis of biological compounds showed that they were synthesized in cyanobacteria cells that were the dominant form of the trophic chains of the ancient ocean. Only 650 million years ago, the spread of algae began, which led to the development of complex ecosystems with large animals.
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