Pink Was the First Color of Life on Earth

Fossils can tell us quite a bit about plants and animals that lived millions of years ago, including their size, shape and even a bit about their love life. But one thing they can’t do is reveal what color the creatures were. Was T. rex shades of turquoise and green, or muddy brown like it’s depicted in most art? It’s hard to say since the organic pigments that produce color typically degrade over time. But it turns out some bits of color can last, and Luke Henriques-Gomes at The Guardian reports that scientists have discovered the oldest organic color so far, a bit of bright pink that has survived in 1.1-billion-year-old rocks.

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The pigments are fossilised molecules of chlorophyll produced by sea organisms, n scientists said. Researchers ground shale rocks into powder to extract the pigment. "Imagine you could find a fossilised dinosaur skin that still has its original colour, green or blue... that is exactly the type of discovery that we've made," Associate Prof Jochen Brocks from the n National University (ANU) told the BBC.

"These are actual molecules, the oldest coloured molecules in the world. "When held against the sunlight, they are actually a neon pink."'Amazing that colour can survive' ANU PhD student, Dr Nur Gueneli, discovered the pigments after running an organic solvent through the powdered roc

After 1.1 billion years.. wow, incredible