The oldest fossil on Earth?

Stromatolite, bacterial concretion

Oxygen producing blue-green algae

Srromatolite

Product description

Stromatolites are layered accrecionary structures formed in shallow water by the binding of sedimentary grains by bacterial organisms.
 
As such, they are the earlist evidence of life on Earth. Especially prevalent was cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae.This  stromatolite exhibitis classic growth ring structure, and was discovered in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

It is from the Mesoproterozoic, 1.0 to 1.2 billion years old. The bacteria responsible for this fossil is likely to be a species of cyanobacteria, the primitive organisms that largely produced Earth's atmospheric oxygen.

It would be another 600 million years after this stromatolite was formed before shelled creatures appeared on earth.
The distinct alternating band structures within stromatolite could signify temporal variation growth patterns in a large microbial colony that resulted from changing conditions in the benthic environment.

Without the bacteria that produced stromatolites, there would probably be no oxygen, and no planet today as we know it.
 
A chance to own a fossil from Earth's long distant past, well before more complex creatures evolved. 
 
The fossil can be mounted for better display if required. Please ask at time of purchase.
 
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