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Long before forests reached skyward, animals walked on land and dinosaurs rose and fell, our planet was shaped by a much smaller, more unassuming form of life. And we can still find traces of it today.

These ancient fossils, the earliest visible evidence of life on Earth, are known as microbialites.

Western Australia contains an extraordinary record of microbialites: from the oldest known examples, preserved in rocks almost 3.5 billion years old in the Pilbara, to living examples in the UNESCO World Heritage area of Shark Bay.

Our review of 50 years of microbialite research in Western Australia, published today in the journal Alcheringa, summarizes what this archive can tell us about the evolution and resilience of life on Earth.

Despite a fossil record that spans billions of years, microbialites are surprisingly fragile. Fossil sites remain vulnerable to overcollection and degradation, while living microbialites are facing growing pressures.