Called thylakoid membranes, the structures are the oldest ever found, researchers report January 3 in Nature. The finding pushes back the evidence of thylakoids in cyanobacteria by 1.2 billion years.

However it is now believed that thylakoid membranes in cyanobacteria were what made them capable of using sunlight to create energy and release oxygen. The oldest known fossil thylakoids date back ...