The oldest known pink pigment is found in cyanobacterial fossils from the Sahara Desert, dating back over 650 million years.
These ancient pink pigments, discovered in rocks within the Taoudeni Basin of Mauritania, provide evidence that cyanobacteria were a dominant form of life in the Earth's oceans during that period. The pink color comes from chlorophyll produced by these organisms. When they died and decomposed, the chlorophyll molecules broke down, leaving behind intense pink pigments. These findings predate the emergence of algae, previously thought to be the dominant photosynthetic organisms of that era.
This discovery significantly shifted our understanding of early life on Earth and the dominance of cyanobacteria long before the evolution of more complex organisms.
