STROMATOLITES . are the most abundant fossils in rocks representing the first 2-3 billion years of recorded Earth history. They reflect the history of bottom-dwelling, mat-forming microorganisms, particularly cyanobacteria but also other bacteria, Archaea and algae -- that is, aspects of the history of all three superking-doms of life. Moreover, they are included in the strategy for exploring for evidence that life once existed on Mars, because they might have formed in lakes and around thermal springs that once occurred there.
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