Dinoflagellates are single celled organisms that reflect the ecological conditions in modem oceans and lakes. Their earliest undisputed fossil record suggests that dinoflagellates originated from the Middle Triassic (c.240 Ma ago). However, the presence of molecular biomarkers (dinosterane, 4α-methyl-24-ethylcholestane and triaromatic dinosteroids) in rock extracts and coccoid dinoflagellate fossils from the upper Sinian to Cambrian of the Tarim basin confirms the hypothesis that dinoflagellates have an ancient origin, and predate the oldest undisputed dinoflagellate fossils at least by 300 Ma, as early as the late Sinian-Cambrian.