The dominant bacteria in the stromatoliths are Microcoleus cyanobacteria and deinococci in the surface; there are also eukaryotic algae, diatoms. Other taxa include Desulfobacterales, Rhodobacteraceae and Spirochaetes and mostly represent novel lineages; the extreme conditions of these high elevation lakes lead to high extremophile diversity. Some of the Laguna Socompa stromatoliths are classified as Conophyton stromatoliths, which are otherwise only known as Precambrian (over 541 ± 1 million years old) fossils.