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Palaeontology

Modern life in ancient mats

Microbial communities seem to have inhabited tidal sediments 2.9 billion years ago much as they do today — but what organisms were involved, and how they made their living, remain intriguing questions.

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Figure 1: Mat finish.

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Tice, M. Modern life in ancient mats. Nature 452, 40–41 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/452040a

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