Stromatolites: The oldest evidence of life on Earth.
The stromatolites ”Living fossils” invented photosynthesis changing the course of Planet Earth.
Cuatro Ciénegas canyons by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
An oasis surrounded by desert.
Cuatro Ciénegas valley is a geological rarity isolated from the rest of Planet Earth.
Cacti diversity by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
A beautiful oasis by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
Cuatro Ciénegas a unique desert aquatic ecosystem.
It has kept an oasis in its interior, with more than 250 water bodies that have similar conditions to the late Precambrian stage.
Stromatolites in Cuatro Ciénega's ponds. by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
Living fossils.
Some of its ponds stand out for the living stromatolites thriving as Earth's oldest living life forms.
Microbial mat by Héctor Fernando Arocha Garza, Josué Manuel Corona GarciaCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
Microbial mats.
After the appearance of the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA), the microorganisms on that early Earth, arranged in organized layered structures known as microbial mats (the first evidence of cooperation on our planet), inhabited marine sediments in the ancient ocean.
Microbial mats evolution.
By a change in their DNA, some microbial mats "learned" how to precipitate calcium to solidify their structures, and eventually, these became living rocks, known as stromatolites.
The oxygenic photosynthesis inventors.
These solidified microbial mats (stromatolites) were now able to emerge and "meet the sun," generating photosynthesis since 3,500 million years ago.
The Playitas of the desert by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
The first producers of free oxygen.
With each bubble, stromatolites filled the atmosphere with oxygen, changing our planet's history from a red to a blue world; they boosted the oxygen in the atmosphere from less than 1% to more than 20%.
Aquatic plants by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
Refuges for stromatolites
As continents moved, new shores, lakes and lagoons appeared, providing new homes to these ancient forms of life.
Where are stromatolites found?
Today, living stromatolites are extremely rare; however, they can be seen in very few places like Shark bay Australia, Bacalar, México, and Cuatro Ciénegas México.
The Stromatolites by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
A window to early life in Earth.
Stromatolites in Cuatro Ciénegas are unique because their microorganisms are direct descendants of the most ancient life.
The uniqueness of Cuatro Ciénegas stromatolites.
In contrast to other sites with stromatolites, in Cuatro Ciénegas, they are still a fundamental part of maintaining the trophic balance in the ecosystem because fish and snails depend on these "living rocks" to thrive.
Cuatro Ciénegas Valley a window to the past by Nicolás Sánchez-Mejorada GiraultCuatro Ciénegas- Genesis 4C Museum and Laboratory
Cuatro Ciénegas ponds a proxy for an earlier time in Earth.
Our turquoise ponds are living evolutionary laboratories and museums; by studying them, scientists can open a window to the past, going back to the life origins on Planet Earth.
Ph.D. Héctor Fernando Arocha Garza, Genesis 4C.
Acknowledgments to Las Playitas del Desierto and Pronatura Noreste, A.C. for the access granted to get the photographs and Ph.D. Susana De La Torre Zavala for her support for the story conceptualization.
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